What we do
Therapy Dogs Australia provides canine and handler training designed for existing health professionals and educators (Clinical Course) or support workers and volunteers (Community Course) who are interested in the field of Animal-Assisted Therapy.
Our mission is to assist in creating human-canine therapy teams by equipping people with the skills and confidence required to include their dogs in their daily practice in a manner that is safe and ethical for their dog and their clients/participants/students.
We do this by providing a range of training courses, designed to give handlers the opportunity to support their young dogs from puppy age all the way through their (hopefully) long and happy careers as therapy dogs. We are incredibly passionate about providing a professional service, through our online course delivery.
We have created relationships with dogs trainers all over Australia so that we can offer our courses in every state! It is our goal to have as many therapy dog and handler teams providing professional and ethical, evidence based services around Australia as possible!
What is a Therapy Dog
A therapy dog is a dog that has been trained with its handler (usually its owner), to provide therapeutic interaction to another person in the community (e.g. allied health client, school student, nursing home resident). Note – this is different to an assistance dog or service dog, we do not train those dogs. A therapy dog can be a dog of any breed and age (over 12 months, more info about age on our FAQ page), and from all walks of life. The most important thing about a therapy dog is that they love their job! For the dog to enjoy their role, it is crucial that they are an outgoing personality who loves meeting new people and making new friends!
Please note, we do not train assistance dogs or companion dogs.
