Therapy Dog Offers Hope and Healing

to traumatised foster children


Article heading image for Therapy Dog Offers Hope and Healing

(from left) Member for Toowoomba South David Janetzki MP, Nadine Wright, guardian family Abby Curtis (12), Chloe Curtis (9) and Mum Vanessa Curtis with Hope the therapy puppy

Toowoomba woman Nadine Wright is hoping a therapy dog can help soothe traumatised foster children while they give evidence to police or the court.

Mrs Wright is the founder of Hope for Our Children, which works tirelessly to improve the lives of foster children and their carers.

The puppy, a four-month-old Labradoodle named Hope, is currently living with a guardian family who are helping train her along with a professional therapy dog trainer.

“Hope will be trained to recognise when a child’s level of cortisol, a hormone elevated in response to stress, rises and she will use pressure and release responses to calm the child,” Mrs Wright said.

“It’s like a dog cuddle to calm the child,” she said.

Member for Toowoomba South David Janetzki MP urged the community to get behind Hope for Our Children’s goal of raising the $25,000 it will cost to fully train Hope over the course of two years.

“Nadine is passionate and works tirelessly to help those most vulnerable in our community,” Mr Janetzki said.

“This therapy puppy will be comforting children in highly stressful situations while they recall details of their abuse to police or the courts, or while strangers are debating their fate in the Family Court,” he said.

“I urge everyone to get behind Hope for Our Children’s journey in training their therapy dog.”

Mrs Wright said she also wanted to make Hope available for foster children during their scheduled visits with their biological parents in the Toowoomba Children’s Contact Centre.

“Scheduled visits at the contact centre can be very frightening and traumatising for children where they are, in some situations, forced to have contact with a parent who has been an abuser,” she said.

“A therapy dog would be able to comfort them and make them feel like they are not alone.”

Hope is currently living with a guardian family with children who are helping with her training.

Donations towards Hope’s training are fully tax deductible and can be made at https://hfoc.blog/shop/

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22 June 2018




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