Today, 125 assistance dogs in Flanders are helping their owners every day, thanks to Hachiko vzw.

What does Hachiko vzw do?
Check our clip!

Tail wagging help. Meet our dogs.

  • Assistance dogs

    Assistance dogs is the general term for any dog trained to assist a disabled handler. There are different types of assistance dogs. Hachiko vzw trains service dogs for people with motor disabilities and seizure dogs for people suffering from epilepsy.

Hachiko 25 3 Website

Caring breeders and foster families

  • When the pup is 8 weeks old, it goes to a foster family. They raise the pup for 1,5 to 2 years while Hachiko coaches them to do so.

Zumba Zorro 112

Graduating at Hachiko

  • After staying with its foster family, the dog continues its education at Hachiko for about 4 to 5 months. The trainers practice more on the commands the dogs already know and learn them new tasks such as walking besides a wheelchair and opening doors.

Training Hachiko

  • When the training is completed and the dog is ready, usually after about two years, the dog gets paired up with his new owner through an intership that lasts about six weeks. The trainers learn the future owners how to handle and cooperate with their new furry helper.

Intership