Disability and Independence.
Understanding disability, support needs, and what assistance dogs can make possible.
Disability affects hundreds of millions of people in India. Yet practical support - the kind that helps someone move through the world more independently - remains unavailable for most. This guide explains why, and what trained dogs can do about it.
Disability is not a single thing. Physical, developmental, psychiatric, sensory and invisible disabilities each present differently, require different kinds of support, and are understood differently under Indian law. India has over 26 million people officially registered as living with a disability - and almost certainly many more who aren't counted.
For most of them, meaningful practical support is hard to access. Human caregivers aren't always available, aren't always consistent, and can't provide support 24 hours a day. Trained assistance dogs fill gaps that human support often can't. Therapy dogs provide something different again - the kind of calm, non-judgmental presence that has measurable effects on wellbeing, anxiety and recovery.
Understanding disability - its types, its legal framework in India, and the specific ways trained dogs can help - is the foundation for understanding what HeartDogs is building and why it matters.
Understanding disability - the foundations.
Three articles that explain what disability is, how it's understood in Indian law, and who can benefit from an assistance dog.
Different disabilities, different needs.
Disability takes many forms. These articles explain the main categories and how assistance dogs relate to each.
How assistance dogs support people with specific conditions.
Trained dogs can help in ways that human caregivers sometimes cannot - and can't always replace. Here's what the evidence shows for specific conditions.
HeartDogs exists because disability inclusion needs practical solutions - and trained dogs are one of them.
Every dog in Cohort 1 is being trained to support a specific kind of need - mobility, autism, psychiatric disability, therapy. Eight rescued Indies. Eight women in rural Karnataka preparing them. One programme India doesn't yet have.