Preparing for Assistance Dog Retirement: What do we currently know about the retirement of assistance dogs?

Assistance dogs significantly support individuals facing physical, mental health, and well-being challenges, providing both functional aid and emotional support. Despite their clear benefits and increasing demand in the UK, understanding and research on the retirement phase of assistance dog partnerships are limited. This scoping review aims to explore this knowledge gap by evaluating existing literature on assistance dog retirement and identifying key patterns, themes, and gaps. Following Arksey and O'Malley's framework, the review specified the research question, identified relevant literature, selected studies, charted the data, and summarised, synthesised, and reported results. The search focused on published journal articles from seven databases, retrieving three hundred and ninety-four initial results reviewed independently by two research team members. After screening, fourteen final papers were examined, showing growing subject interest from 2016 onwards, with contributions primarily from Western countries including the USA, UK, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. Research commonly explored three overarching themes: the impact of retirement on the human/user, on the assistance dog, and the retirement process itself, with sub-themes such as the emotional impact of loss, grief, partnership success, animal welfare, and retirement implications. Preliminary findings suggest an international gap in preparing owners and families for assistance dog retirement and a lack of standardised guidelines and policies. Further research should develop support mechanisms for loss and retirement, expand the diversity of studied populations, and establish standardised retirement guidelines. Addressing these areas is crucial for enhancing the well-being of both assistance dogs and their users in preparation for and throughout the retirement process.