Dogtober is a way to get involved with Assistance Dogs
We share an extraordinary bond with dogs.
For thousands of years, we’ve looked after each other physically and emotionally. As a result, we’ve benefited from each other’s existence and become best mates in the process.
Our bond with dogs is most notable when one of us is in need. Whether it’s a pet providing companionship or a support dog for people with disabilities, our canine friends always come through for us.
Guide dogs for the Blind Association of Queensland
For more than 60 years, Guide Dogs Australia have enabled a lifetime of independence, participation, inclusion and wellbeing for people with vision loss and their families.
Guide Dogs
Every Guide Dog is carefully selected to match the client’s personality and specific needs, and they’re always on hand to help achieve personal goals. In addition, Guide Dogs provide constant support and companionship lasting from eight to ten years
Thanks to their unique skills, Guide Dogs can recognise obstacles, cross busy roads, move through large crowds with ease, board public transport, and get you almost anywhere you need or want to go.
Different career path
Therapy Dogs
Not all of the pups become guide dogs. Some are better suited to a slightly different career path. It’s these playful, gentle pups that make the perfect Therapy Dog 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. In addition, therapy Dogs can support 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.
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.
Sixty years later, Guide Dogs Australia continues to provide vital services for people living with vision loss, and they look forward to continuing to do so for another 60 years and beyond.
One Light Charity promotes the human-animal bond and supports Registered Charities and projects who:
- protect street animals and pets,
- support farm animal welfare,
- stop wildlife abuse,
- eliminate painful animal testing,
- respond to natural disasters
- confront cruelty to animals in all of its forms.
Please click here to make a donation.