PAWS Pet Therapy

19/11/2025

Beyond proud of my special boy, Doc, today!

We did our very first visit together at the lovely Gosling Creek Aged Care in Orange, and he absolutely shone.

It’s a big adjustment when you’re used to working with a long-time partner, and heading into this visit without Hudson at the end of the lead made me a little anxious.

But Doc stepped up beautifully — calm, gentle, enthusiastic, and acting like he’s been visiting his whole life.

We’ve always known Doc had something special, even as a pup, and today he showed us he is a true therapy dog.

Upon leaving the facility, we left a few extra smiles… and that’s always good for the soul!

18/11/2025

Huge Congratulations to Roman — our 2025 ZEP Award recipient!

We’re thrilled to announce that PAWS Pet Therapy volunteer Roman Busz has been awarded the "ZEP Award for Volunteering Excellence 2025". This special award recognises volunteers who consistently go above and beyond in their volunteering role — and Roman truly does just that.

In fact… he was so dedicated to his PAWS visits across four aged care facilities that he missed the awards lunch on Friday because he was out visiting! Now that’s commitment.

A big congratulations to Roman and his beautiful partner, Matilda, for the outstanding work they do, for embracing all things PAWS and generally being a pleasure to work with.

We are so grateful to have Roman & Matilda in the PAWS family.

Well done and Congratulations.

17/11/2025

17/11/2025

On Saturday we wrapped up our final Training & Assessment Day for 2026 at the Orangeville PAWS office — and what a lovely way to end the year!

Despite the weather being a bit unsure of itself, it held off just enough for us to train, assess and celebrate without any wild downpours or storms.

We were thrilled to welcome three fantastic new teams, all of whom passed with flying colours!

Three very different dogs with their own special personalities — each bringing something unique to our PAWS family.

Congratulations to:
• Liz & Red
• Michelle & Bowie
• Jane & Layla

We can’t wait to see the joy you’ll bring to the people you visit.

As always, a huge thank you to our training team — Nadine, John and Megan — and to all the PAWS volunteers who have helped out at training days throughout the year. Your support keeps this program thriving.

What a year it’s been! We’re excited to do it all again in 2026 in our new office and training centre.

🐾 Here’s to more wagging tails, confidence-building moments and PAWS magic in the year ahead!

17/11/2025

On Friday, we gathered for one of our favourite events of the year — our annual PAWS Volunteer Awards!

Held at the lovely Enzos Cucina in Camden, we enjoyed delicious food and wine, wonderful service, and even better company. It was the perfect chance to chat about all things PAWS and celebrate the incredible humans (and dogs!) who make our work possible.

This year we celebrated three outstanding volunteers, with the ZEP Award still to be announced. On the day, we proudly presented:

The “Cath & Beau” Award for Children’s Services” — awarded to Anne & her superstar Polly for their beautiful work supporting students at Newington College and Mercy College.

The brand-new “Hudson Award for Palliative Care Services” — awarded to the amazing Rebecca Cade, joined every week by her adorable offsider Sophie on their palliative care visits to Camden Hospital Palliative Care Unit.

Another new award - the “Angus Award for Cancer Services” — awarded to Leigh Wyatt, who supported her loyal companion Flopz to bring comfort and smiles during their series of visits to Wollongong Hospital and the Illawarra Cancer Care Service.

It was so lovely for PAWS staff and Committee to celebrate with our well-deserving winners. Congratulations to all of our hardworking teams — you are the heart of PAWS Pet Therapy, and we are so grateful for everything you do.
.. also a pic of little Sophie and her well-earned Hudson Award, when Bec got home from lunch.

13/11/2025

A huge paws up to the amazing team at HospEquip for delivering our brand-new training bed this week!

HospEquip gave PAWS a fantastic discount so we could choose the very best option for our teams — a full ICU bed with all the bells, whistles, and beeps our dogs need to get used to before heading into real hospital environments. Talk about going above and beyond!

And an extra-big tail wag of thanks to Wollondilly Shire Council and Simplot for awarding us grants that made this purchase possible. Your support means the world to our volunteers, our dogs, and the countless people they’ll go on to help.

We can’t wait to dress her up with sheets and blankets and start seeing some serious “2 Paws” action from our new teams.

Training days just got a whole lot more pawfessional!

07/11/2025

This week's instalment of "Funny things that happen at PAWS".

Whitney had us all laughing at this training day! She decided she already knew the drill — no prompting needed — and delivered a perfect “visit” all on her own.
Honestly, who’s training who here?

Not ideal for hospital visits, but Kathryn now has it all under control, and they are a fantastic team.😉

05/11/2025

Students at Sydney Conservatorium of Music were treated to some seriously good vibes, a few soulful sniffs, and a tail-wagging encore this morning.

Dave Growl and Frankie hit all the high notes while providing a duet of cuddles and smiles for the students.

04/11/2025

Thanks to a generous grant from Wollondilly Shire Council, PAWS has purchased a brand-new training bed — complete with all the bells, whistles, and tail-wag-worthy features you’d find in a modern hospital bed. This new bed, which is being delivered next week, will keep our training sessions current and realistic, helping our volunteers and their dogs prepare for the real-life environments they’ll visit.

We’ve always offered hands-on, realistic training scenarios — but this new upgrade takes things to the next level! Our old bed has officially retired (no more ups and downs for you, old friend ), and all future training and assessment days will feature our shiny new model.

A big thank you to Wollondilly Mayor Matt Gould for presenting the big cheque at the PAWS office last week.