Bailey's Buddy - A Therapy Dog for Bailey

Please help our son to regain his confidence and deal with the emotional stress of going to school and being out and about amongst his peers.

Bailey is six years old and attends our local primary school with his brothers, twins Benji and Luca and older sister Ella. He is the youngest child in our family.

Bailey is Autistic and has ADHD, this means things that the rest of us take for granted are very challenging for our wee boy. School has been a real battle for him and he finds it very hard to adjust and blend into school. Forming meaningful relationships is just so hard and trying to stay focused and learn is just unbearable for him most days. Navigating his way through a typical day is a mindfield, reading body language and being able to compromise and get along with peers is such a challenge for our boy.

Since he was diagnosed 2 years ago, Bailey has had a hard time adjusting and going to school and staying at school the whole day is a battle for him daily. He has become extremely anxious at school. This is negatively affecting his learning and has made life difficult for him. We really want to help Bailey at home and school and make things more settled for his friends, classmates and teachers at school.

We would like to purchase a fully trained therapy dog for our family. Given the therapy bloodlines these dogs provide a calmness in the classroom and at home. Children with Down Syndrome and Autism are well known to have a reduced number of meltdowns and sleep better, showing lower levels of anxiety with the help of a therapy dog. These puppies have been trained from birth to provide support and help reduce anxiety in normal daily routine.

We have found a gorgeous therapy puppy through NZ Therapy Dogs. Buddy is a labradoodle pup has a beautiful temperament and would be a wonderful friend and support for our Bailey.

The total cost of the therapy puppy, including 5-6 months specialist training, is $17,940. Please help us to achieve our goal. We really appreciate your support!

Use of funds

To provide funding of a Therapy puppy for Bailey from NZ Therapy Dogs.