Our Services & Who We Are

We provide Therapy Dog visits and animal-assisted interventions in Darwin, Palmerston and surrounds.

We happily provide consulting and input into animal-assisted therapies and visits, should you need expert advice or require appropriate planning and design for a desired animal-assisted program.

Our visiting and intervention service comes with professional indemnity insurance, public liability insurance, Therapy Dog certification*, Working With Children Check (NT Ochre Card), and National Police Check.

Hannah is a current PhD candidate and Lecturer in Social Work at Charles Darwin University. She has a Bachelors degree majoring in Management, and postgraduate degrees in Mental Health Practice, International and Community Development and Social Work.

Hannah is a current and eligible member of the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW), professional member of Animal Therapies Ltd., and the current Co-Chairperson for the NT Animal Therapies Ltd. Committee.

Good Dog is a proudly owned and operated veteran owned practice.

*Therapy Dog Quinton is certified; Julius is still undergoing training.

Benefits of Therapy Animals

Therapy Animals serve as non-judgemental companions in the processes of learning, development, socialisation and positive wellbeing. Therapy Dogs are particularly helpful in the community as they already perform in fields of disability assistance, emotional regulation, and assisting those living with a chronic illness. Dogs are the single most commonly used animals in Animal Assisted Interventions (Nimer & Lundahl, 2007).

Therapy Dogs are particularly useful in having positive impacts on a range of human issues and medical conditions. Studies have shown that there are four main areas of the human condition that have demonstrated consistent improvements: those on the Autism Spectrum, people living with chronic medical conditions, children or adults with behavioural issues, and humans in need of immediate emotional wellbeing (Fontana & Jones, 2017).

Trained Therapy Dogs are well suited to assisting humans as they are socially motivated, and will often seek human attention or human interaction. Increasing research on canine cognition show the dog's ability to understand human social cues, like body language, and even emotion. 

Our work

Delivering animal-assisted services is incredibly rich and diverse, Roxy and Quinton’s certification, Sugar’s on the job training, and Hannah’s social work skills combine for a well-rounded, evidence-informed service that can be applied in many areas of everyday life, areas such as: education, classrooms, universities; health, in clinical settings and therapeutic settings; community settings, nursing homes, libraries, health promotion; and even corporate settings. Many environments in which Roxy, Quinton, Sugar and Hannah have worked in the past:

• school visits promoting personal wellbeing and safety, and even dog safety;

• pre and post exam stress;

• loss and grief (particularly after the Darwin shooting and at the NT Government COVID-19 Ops Centre);

• literacy programs;

• psychosocial programs;

• promotion of wellbeing events such as R U OK Day, World Suicide Prevention Day, Mental Health Week;

• promoting and supporting our military and veteran community like at DMFS’ (Defence Member and Family Support) Welcome to the Top End event, Veterans NT fundraising events, and being invited to take part in Decompression Training for returning ADF personnel at Darwin’s Robertson Barracks.

Hannah has also been invited to speak professionally and present about animal-assisted services as a mode of social work practice with professional organisations such as:

• Animal Therapies Ltd. 2019 & 2022 Conference

• NT Primary Health Network

• North Australia Research Network (NARN) Breakfast presentations

• Guest Speaker, University of Adelaide’s Bachelor Science (Animal Behaviour), video clip below.

Work in the corporate setting?

We offer visits to businesses and corporate workplaces. Whether your workplace is high tempo, undergoing a stressful period, or significant transition; Good Dog’s therapy dogs can come and assist with your workplace, as an interactive presentation on the benefits of animal assisted therapies, or as brief positive, tactile disruptors to the working day, routine or program.

Workplace Training Packages

Training packages for the workplace and organisation are also available through Good Dog:

• Cultural Competence in ‘Working Dogs/Animals’ in the Workplace

• Cultural Competence in Delivering Customer Service to Patrons or Clients with a Working Animal (Assistance Animal, Therapy Animal, Emotional Support Animal)

• Train the Trainer Packages are also available.

If you would like to know more, please get in contact through our messaging service, below.

Rates

We currently offer Therapy Dog visits to workplaces, facilities, schools, clinics and centres in Darwin, Palmerston and surrounds.

Therapy Dog visits can be tailored to you and the needs of your environment, students, clients or employees - either in the workplace, classroom, workshop or seminar, function or event.

Good Dog currently offers rates for for-profit organisations and not-for-profits. Starting from $135/hr (NFP) and $185/hr (FP).

Similarly, we are able to deliver services to participants on the NDIS and are guided by the latest NDIS Pricing Guide.

If you are interested in our services, but aren't ready to commit, Good Dog is happy to visit you for a one-off, no-fee Meet & Greet.

If you would like to know more, please don't hesitate in contacting us through our messaging service, below.

Interested in an animal-assisted service, intervention program for your setting?

We can assist with the design of an animal-assisted service or intervention for your workplace, clinic or facility suited specifically to your needs.

If you would like to know more, please get in contact through our messaging service, below.