Become a volunteer
Volunteer with your dog

Could you and your dog be a PAWS team?

Ready to team up with your best buddy? Eight quick questions, then a short form, and we'll be in touch.

$275 in total · $150 deposit up front unlocks the course

A training course and assessment day (in person or Zoom), a uniform for you and a vest and lead for your dog, a backpack full of equipment, insurance, a placement near you and ongoing support.

Question 1 of 8
How it works
Step 1

Chat with the PAWS Team

Eight questions here, then a chat about you, your dog, the PAWS course and training, and where you can visit.

Step 2

Training

A manual to work through at your own pace, tips on basic obedience, then a training and assessment day in person or over Zoom. There is a real hospital bed to practise on.

Step 3

Your first visit

Uniform on, vest on, visit bag packed. A placement that suits you both, insurance covered, and the office a phone call away.

From our volunteers

What it is really like

We joined PAWS late 2023 with our Cavoodle boy Squish. He came into our life after I had a Stroke and helped us through a hard time. … If you believe that you could be a PAWS volunteer trust the process as it works
Glenda Waltis, with Squish
They are an exceptional not-for-profit organisation with a structured and professional training and assessment program for the therapy dog teams. … they listened to our preferences and worked with us to find a great weekly placement.
Kathy Windel, with Frankie
Such a supportive and organised service. Aloy my flat coated retriever and I have done some great visits including hospitals, schools and Wayside Chapel but she loves the school kid cuddles
Lisa Taylor, with Aloy
Two PAWS volunteers with their golden retriever therapy dogs
Two PAWS volunteers with their therapy dogs at a community outing
Three PAWS volunteers with their therapy dogs in a park
Leighton and Michael, a happy PAWS volunteer team, hugging and smiling
Who it suits

Any breed, any size, one temperament

PAWS teams are people from all walks of life with dogs of every shape and size, rescues included. What they share is a dog with a love of humans, friendly and engaging with strangers, other dogs and new places, with an owner who commits to sharing their dog's love on a regular basis.

Volunteers visit aged care, palliative care, hospital wards, mental health units, schools, libraries, offices and emergency services. Some teams have done it for over a decade. See the programs our teams deliver, or meet some of our current teams. Every PAWS course puts your dog's welfare first.

Take the quiz
"The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away."
Pablo Picasso
A PAWS volunteer holding her small black dog
A volunteer in sunglasses kneeling beside her spaniel
A volunteer with his golden retriever on a visit
A smiling volunteer hugging her white labrador
A volunteer and her golden retriever on a hospital visit
A volunteer hugging her golden retriever
A volunteer smiling beside her corgi-cross
A volunteer kneeling with her husky
A volunteer smiling with his small dog
A volunteer cuddling her big black dog