Smart Service Dog

09/12/2025

🐾❤️ A Big Shout-Out to Wimpy SA! ❤️🐾
From all of us at Smart Service Dog, we want to send a huge thank-you to Wimpy South Africa for taking real steps toward accessibility and inclusion.

Your commitment to providing Braille menus means so much to blind and visually-impaired customers — and to the service dog community who support them. This is what true accessibility looks like: practical action, dignity, and independence for all.

Thank you, Wimpy SA, for leading by example and showing South Africa how it should be done. 👏✨
Because when businesses care, everyone wins. 🐶💙

08/12/2025

Demonstration for rights of guide dogs outside municipal offices | Highway Mail https://share.google/l9HIGRBSjqes1Dgzj

03/12/2025

🌍💙 International Day of Persons with Disabilities 💙🐾
Today we honour the strength, resilience, and rights of people living with disabilities—while recognising the barriers they still face every day.

At Smart Service Dog, we see firsthand how independence, dignity, and confidence grow when people receive the support they deserve. Our service dogs don’t just perform tasks… they open doors, create safety, and restore freedom.

But true inclusion goes far beyond trained dogs.
It means:
✨ Equal access in public spaces
✨ Respect for assistance dogs and their handlers
✨ Zero discrimination
✨ Communities that stand up for the rights of persons with disabilities
✨ Businesses that understand the law—and do better

Today, and every day, we stand with the disability community.
We stand for accessibility.
We stand for inclusion.
We stand for change.

🐾💙 Because everyone deserves to live a life without barriers.

02/12/2025

🐾 Become a Puppy Raiser! 🐾
Want to help raise a life-changing service dog? 💙
Smart Service Dogs is looking for loving, committed volunteers to help our puppies grow into confident, well-socialised future service dogs.

✨ What you’ll do:
• Give a puppy a safe, loving home
• Teach basic obedience + social skills
• Expose them to everyday environments
• Attend check-ins with our trainers

✨ What we provide:
• Full training support
• Vet guidance
• A community of raisers
• The chance to change someone’s life

If you’ve got the time, patience, and heart… this might be your perfect role. 🐶💫

💙 Ready to join the Smart Service Dogs family?
Send us a message or visit our website to apply!

26/11/2025

GUIDE DOG REFUSED ENTRY — THIS IS NOT OKAY!

Shame on you EThekwini Municipality, Hillcrest Sizakala Centre at 22 Delamore RoadPhezulu Safari Park ,Hillcrest.!!!!!

A person with a guide dog was denied entry to a Hillcrest Sizakala Centre at 22 Delamore Road Hillcres to pay her electricty account on Friday last week — an act that is illegal and deeply discriminatory. Guide dogs aren’t pets; they are essential mobility aids that give people independence and safety. The handler had to take her dog home and return using a white cane to gain entry.

South African law is clear: Guide dogs must be allowed in all public places, including restaurants. No business may refuse them, ask for extra documents, or tell the handler to leave the dog outside
Every refusal humiliates the person and violates their rights.
Let’s educate, speak up, and make sure our community is accessible and inclusive.
Accessibility is a right — not a favour.

From 3 November to 3 December 2025 .we celebrate disability month.
81 % of Guide Dogs are refused entry.
https://smartservicedog.co.za/paws-for-access-a-global-survey-on-assistance-dog-rights/

Please support us with this right to access for Guide Dogs and Assistance Dogs.

Should you have enquiries please feel free to contact me 081 270 4672.

19/11/2025

🐾 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗮 𝗗𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿 — 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗦𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗗𝗼𝗴𝘀 𝗦𝗔! 🐶✨

Looking for a meaningful Charity of the Year? Choose Smart Service Dogs South Africa and help us train life-changing service dogs for children and adults with autism, epilepsy, PTSD, mobility challenges, and more.

Your support helps fund training, care, equipment, and placement of these incredible dogs — giving families hope, safety, and independence.

From sponsored walks and bake sales to raffles and dog sponsorships, there are so many fun ways your team can get involved!

Join us and help change lives, one wagging tail at a time. 🧡🐕🦺
📧 [email protected]

🌐 https://smartservicedog.co.za

https://smartservicedog.co.za/partner-with-smart-service-dogs-and-help-change-lives/

14/11/2025

🐾💙 World Diabetes Day: Honouring Life-Saving Partnerships 💙🐾

Every year on World Diabetes Day, we pause to recognise the resilience of people living with diabetes — and the quiet heroes who walk beside them on four paws.
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At Smart Service Dog, our Diabetic Alert Dogs are trained to detect subtle scent changes in a person’s body long before symptoms become dangerous. These dogs learn to recognise the unique chemical shifts associated with rising or falling glucose levels, giving early alerts that can prevent medical emergencies.

However their training goes far beyond scent work.
From their earliest months, our dogs practice:

🐾 Confidence-building skills
🐾 Focus and impulse control
🐾 Real-life scenario training
🐾 Play-based problem solving
🐾 Structured alert behaviours

Every session helps transform a playful puppy into a dependable medical partner. What looks like fun — tug toys, puzzle games, snuffle mats — is actually essential learning that prepares them for the serious responsibility of keeping someone safe.

These dogs offer more than alerts.
They offer independence.
They offer peace of mind.
They offer the comfort of knowing someone is always watching out for you, day and night.
💙 The individuals living bravely with diabetes
💙 The families and caregivers who support them
💙 And the extraordinary dogs whose dedication saves lives

Together, we continue working toward a safer, more supported future — one alert at a time.

07/11/2025

Ready to Start Training a Gluten Detection Service Dog?

Learn how to determine the right breed of dog for you,
how to find the right breeder, how to select the right
puppy, and how to select a trainer.

Educational videos & handbooks designed to help you determine if it is right for you, and how to get started on the training journey correctly.

Book your1 hour one on one virtual consultation with us.

Visit our website for more information https://smartservicedog.co.za

27/10/2025

We so proud of one of our junior handlers who is fostering one of our guide dogs, entered his first CGC Puppy with Buddy and passed. WELL DONE, as they say "In the back of the net". Thank you to everyone involved.

27/10/2025

Blindness isn’t always black and white — it’s a spectrum. 🌈

According to the American Foundation for the Blind (), only about 18% of people who are visually impaired are totally blind. Most experience different types of vision loss — like central, peripheral, or blurred vision — often caused by disease, injury, or inherited conditions.

👁️ Central Vision Loss – Damage to the macula (the part of the retina responsible for color and fine detail) can make it hard to see what’s directly in front of you.
👁️ Peripheral Vision Loss (Tunnel Vision) – Conditions like glaucoma and retinitis pigmentosa can narrow your field of view, making it feel like you’re looking through a straw.
👁️ Spotted/Blurred Vision – Diabetic retinopathy or eye injuries can distort or blur the entire field of vision.

At Smart Service Dog, we’re dedicated to helping people with visual impairments live more independently and confidently with the support of trained service dogs. ❤️🐕‍🦺

👉 Learn more about our work and how you can support or apply for a guide dog at smartservicedog.co.za

In our post images, you’ll see how these three types of vision loss might look — featuring a golden retriever playing with his teddy 🐾, each photo simulating a different way someone with low vision might experience the world.

15/10/2025

🦯 October 15 is White Cane Day!
Today, we celebrate independence, confidence, and awareness for people who are blind or visually impaired.
The white cane is more than a mobility tool — it’s a symbol of freedom and safety, helping users travel confidently while reminding motorists of their duty to stop and yield.
At Smart Service Dog, we’re proud to support this message through our Orientation & Mobility (O&M) training — empowering individuals to move safely, independently, and with confidence.
💬 What does the white cane mean to you?
Share your thoughts below — let’s spread awareness and celebrate the power of independence together!
Learn more about White Cane Day and the importance of mobility here:
👉https://smartservicedog.co.za/white-cane-day/

October 15

13/10/2025

October is Sight Awareness Month 🌟

This month, we shine a light on the importance of eye health, early detection, and the incredible role that guide dogs play in empowering people who are visually impaired.

At Smart Service Dog, we believe independence and confidence begin with partnership — and there’s no greater example of that than the bond between a guide dog and their handler. 🐾💛

Guide dogs do more than lead; they provide safety, companionship, and freedom. From navigating busy streets to helping with daily routines, these highly trained dogs change lives in ways that go beyond vision.

👁️‍🗨️ Did you know?

A guide dog can help someone with sight loss navigate obstacles, find doors or crossings, and safely travel routes they’ve learned together.

They also offer emotional comfort and a sense of independence that restores confidence and dignity.

This Sight Awareness Month, take a moment to learn more, spread awareness, and celebrate those life-changing partnerships.

🐶 Learn more about how Smart Service Dog trains and supports these remarkable partnerships:
👉https://smartservicedog.co.za

💬 Together, we can build a world where no one walks alone.