Heart Dogs NT is growing! with several participants it is good to see people coming on board.

Heart Dogs NT is currently running a “Training with Coffee” group called ARNTY’s if you’d like to connect with us during the week we’d love to see you.

Training is starting earlier for those of you who attend Saturdays service dog classes start at *:30 at Anula, you must be accepted into the program to attend these classes.

Our great thanks to our sponsors Moondidley for their contribution to our harnesses and leads and to our badges. If you want good quality gear at a reasonable price then see them at Coolalinga shopping centre on Sundays or in the Paws Darwin shelter in Winnellie.

A special Thanks to Palmerston and Karama shopping Centres for their support of our program.  For allowing us opportunities for training and educating the community

This program is still  new and it will face challenges as we develop the brand and get dogs into partnerships with people who need them. We have already formed some successful partnerships and supported other Owner trained partnerships in the community, we remind you all that we do need to adhere to national standards and if you see us being misrepresented we encourage you to let us know.

If you see one of our dogs out and about their handler will have identification with them that identifies them as PAWS Darwin Heart Dog Handlers.

These ID’s look something like this:

We are currently transitioning to new cards please bear with us.

To find out more about our program and how to be involved email us on: heartdogs@pawsdarwin.org

It is Important that all dogs in training to work as service or support dogs remain active in training, this means attending classes and keeping a training diary. use this link to keep up with diary dont hesitate if you need to ask questions

Service Dog Etiquette 

Do not approach Service dogs including looking at them directly, talking to them, or saying how cute they are.

Do Address the Handler Not the Dog if you have a question or something to say

Do give them space

Service and assistance dogs are always on duty, they need to be able to focus on their handler so that they are alert to the handlers needs your interruption can stop the service dog from alerting on time.

Some handlers do not look like they need a service dog, this is called an invisible disability, do not be offended if they do not want to communicate with you about why they need a dog!

For more information about rights check out the Disability Act Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth)