Emotional Support & Therapy Dogs - Queensland Guide Dogs

A young child laying down looking into the face of a yellow labrador dog with a smile on their face, They are both outside and are sitting facing each other.

We have put a “PAWS” on accepting applications

Thank you so much for your interest in our Therapy Dog program. Due to the incredible amount of interest received for this life-changing program, we have had to put a “PAWS” on accepting new applications for the time being.

Please feel free to continue reading and navigating around this page to learn more about the Therapy Dogs program and as always don’t hesitate to reach out with any question, click here to contact us.

Dogs with different career paths

What is a Therapy Dog?

Not all of our wonderful pups become Guide Dogs. Some have skills that are better suited to a slightly different career path. It’s these playful, gentle pups that make the perfect Therapy Dogs for people in need of a loyal best friend to support them.

The primary role of a Therapy Dog is to provide companionship and emotional support to an individual, family or a group of people. Therapy Dogs can provide support for people with mental, emotional and behavioural conditions, illnesses and physical disabilities.

This support could be as simple and invaluable as staying by someone’s side while they navigate their anxiety or helping to bring families closer by encouraging routine, commitment and empathy.

An eight week old yellow labrador puppy resting its head and paws on a person's shoulder.

Some things to know about the Therapy Dog Program

Even if a Therapy Dog does not have public access rights like our Guide Dogs, these beautiful dogs can still help people in a number of ways.

You can hear mum Katie’s story about how Therapy Dog ‘Esme’ helped her family to overcome isolation below.

It costs over $50,000 to breed, raise and train a Guide Dog and a Therapy Dog goes through the majority of this training process. To help offset this cost and to ensure that we can continuing offering this vital program we ask that those who apply for a Therapy Dog are willing to fundraise $10,000.

Our fundraising team will happily provide assistance and fundraising resources to help you with this process once you have been matched with your Therapy Dog.