Cardiac and PoTS alert dogs

About cardiac and pots alert dogs

A PoTS alert dog warns its handler that an episode of lightheadedness or collapse is coming, so they can sit or lie down or get help before they fall. In the UK these medical alert assistance dogs are trained and placed through a charity programme; breeders do not sell them.

What this work involves

Postural tachycardia syndrome (PoTS) is when the heart rate rises after getting up from sitting or lying down, often causing dizziness or lightheadedness; fainting is one of its main symptoms. Medical Detection Dogs places dogs only for people whose episodes come with little or no warning. A cardiac alert dog is trained to notice minute changes in its handler’s odour triggered by the condition and to give a clear alert, such as staring, pawing, nudging or fetching a medical bag.

People often search for a “heart rate alert dog”, but the dog does not monitor heart rate; it responds to odour. Medical Detection Dogs asks clients to keep detailed records of episodes and alerts during training, and each partnership is reassessed every year, so how reliably the dog alerts is tracked over time.

The charity expects the person to keep the dog with them at every possible opportunity. Its dogs are not trained to alert while travelling in a car.

Who trains and supplies these dogs in the UK

Medical Detection Dogs (registered charity 1124533, and SC044434 in Scotland), based near Milton Keynes and a full member of Assistance Dogs UK, places medical alert assistance dogs for PoTS. Its current criteria list PoTS and vasovagal syncope among the conditions it has trained dogs for, and its website refers to PoTS “and other cardiac arrhythmias”. Anyone looking for a PoTS assistance dog in the UK usually starts here.

Its published criteria, updated in June 2026, include:

• aged 5 to 75, diagnosed for at least a year, and living in mainland England, Wales or Scotland;
• frequent episodes with little or no warning, and all appropriate NHS treatment already tried;
• no smokers in the household, an applicant who does not vape (vaping by another household member is reviewed case by case), and no more than two existing dogs;
• the dog is not left alone for more than three to four hours a day.

The charity puts the cost of caring for, supporting and training one medical alert assistance dog at about £29,000. Clients pay the dog’s day-to-day costs, including food, insurance and vet fees, which it estimates at £100 to £120 a month. It aims to place most applicants with a dog within about 18 months to two years of interview, with priority for those in greatest clinical need. Applicants cannot choose the dog’s colour, sex or breed.

It offers charity-owned dogs, which remain the charity’s property throughout their working lives, and an applicant-owned route for a person’s own young dog.

The supply model is charity training from selected sources. Medical Detection Dogs takes puppies from reputable breeders after researching lines, health checks and personality tests, runs a small breeding scheme and takes some dogs from rescue centres.

Breeds and lines

The charity says most of its dogs are Labradors, spaniels or crosses of these, which in practice points to breeds such as the Retriever (Labrador), the Retriever (Golden) and the Spaniel (Cocker).

The ideal postural tachycardia dog is gentle, people-focused and relaxed in public, with a good nose but modest prey drive. For its applicant-owned route, the charity will not take on dogs with a history of strong herding, chasing or hunting tendencies, or dogs being shown competitively or used in agility competitions.

What to ask a breeder

• Have dogs from your lines gone into assistance or medical alert work?
• How do the parents behave in a café or a busy shop?
• What health tests have the parents had? For Labradors, the Royal Kennel Club recommends the BVA/RKC hip and elbow schemes, the eye scheme and several DNA tests.
• Are the parents from calmer lines rather than hard-driving field-trial lines?
• How is the litter socialised to handling, lifts and public transport?
• Will you take a puppy back if it is not suitable?

Legal and welfare notes

A trained medical alert dog is an assistance dog, and the Equality Act 2010 requires service providers to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people who use one. The Equality and Human Rights Commission’s guidance for businesses treats assistance dogs as auxiliary aids and says no harness, jacket or ID book is legally required, although Medical Detection Dogs’ dogs wear its coat in public. The charity states that its dogs are not a replacement for the usual treatment and management of a condition.

Frequently asked questions

Can I buy a PoTS alert dog?

No. Medical Detection Dogs places them through its own programme. Breeders can sell puppies from lines with the right aptitude, but not trained or accredited alert dogs.

Can a child have a PoTS assistance dog?

Medical Detection Dogs accepts applicants from age 5. An adult must take overall responsibility for the dog and accompany a child with it until the age of 14.

Can my own dog be trained?

Possibly. The applicant-owned route accepts dogs aged two or under, or up to three if already alerting consistently, subject to a veterinary check, a temperament evaluation, six weeks of scent and alerting records and a public access assessment.

Breeders whose Labradors, Golden Retrievers or Cocker Spaniels have gone into medical alert work, or whose calm, people-focused lines have the aptitude for it, can list on Canine Breeder so charities and families can find them.