Join the ADA Pack Today

This week is International Assistance Dog Week (IADW), an occasion used to celebrate the transformative powers of Assistance Dogs and acknowledge all the people who make their success possible. Our theme for IADW is, It Takes a Pack to say thank you to our pack and encourage newcomers to our family.

It takes a pack to raise an Assistance Dog; a specialised team of volunteers and staff, over $60,000 + and two years of training. Here at Assistance Dogs Australia (ADA), we’re beyond grateful for each and every individual who plays a crucial role in our pack. From volunteers, supporters, followers, staff and everyone in between, we truly couldn’t do it without them.

The ADA Pack is growing to keep up with the growing demand for Assistance Dogs around the country. Especially the volunteers, who raise our pups and are crucial to the socialisation and development of our future Assistance Dogs in their first year of life as each Assistance Dog spends the first year of their life with a volunteer Puppy Educator.

With an additional 76 puppies coming into our pack by December, we need dedicated and reliable volunteers to welcome these pups into their homes. You can join our pack today!  

Taking in a future Assistance Dog for a whole year is a big commitment which is why we’re introducing new flexible options like co-raising. As a volunteer, you will be supported by our expert team of Puppy Educator Supervisors, trainers, instructors, an animal care team and a volunteer team.

There are plenty of ways to volunteer for ADA, our top three needs are Puppy Educators, Brood Carers and BnBers.

A Puppy Educator is a volunteer who takes a puppy into their home from 8 weeks of age up until 12-14 months old. With our new co-raising options you can team up with friends, family, co-workers or neighbours and commit to shorter periods of time and share the pup.  

It’s the responsibility of the Puppy Educator to raise the pup to be well-mannered and social, focusing on getting them out and about in the community and having positive experiences. Basic training such as toilet training, loose leash walking, and food manners is involved, but all the technical training will be completed when the dog enters Advanced Training at our National Training Centre (NTC).  

This is our most needed volunteer role, if you or someone you know might be interested, please fill out our volunteer application.

A Brood (Mum) Carer is a volunteer who cares for the very special mums in ADA. A brood dog will undergo all Assistance Dog training before being selected to breed and will have no more than 3 litters in her career.  

The brood will live with the volunteer from the age they’re chosen to breed, which can vary from around 18 months. They’ll remain in the carer’s home whilst they’re pregnant and often during the whelping of the puppies.  

Whilst the brood is in the home they live normally as a pet, their breeding timeline will fluctuate but their well-being is top priority so they will retire after their third litter.

A BnBer is a volunteer who cares for the Assistance Dogs undergoing Advanced Training on the weekends or for short periods. All ADA dogs undergoing Advanced Training live at the National Training Centre or National Training School, but they deserve a break on the weekends.  

It’s simple weekend care with no training involved, the Advanced Training Dogs simply go into the homes of volunteers to get respite and enjoy a fun weekend. The Advanced Training dogs work hard throughout the week learning new tasks and preparing to be matched with their future client, rest and recovery are crucial components to managing their well-being and ensuring their success.

All volunteers are supported by ADA staff, including but not limited to specialised Assistance Dog trainers, the animal care team, the client and volunteer support team, and Puppy Educator Supervisors.

All costs are covered for Assistance Dogs in the care of volunteers. Our Pet Nutrition Partner Hills Pet Nutrition supplies all food, and all other costs such as vet, necessities and flea/tick prevention are covered by ADA.

These volunteer roles might seem very dog-focused, but the reality is these dogs will go on to support people with disability and change their lives. Assistance Dogs are proven to have a profound impact on individuals with disability and any contribution from weekend care to being a full-time Puppy Educator is what makes our work possible.

So, if you want to contribute to greatly enhancing inclusion and independence for people with disability, this is your chance to make a real impact!

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