Puppy Development Advisor- Guide Dogs Wa

**Introduction**:
EverAbility Group have a long and proud history of providing services for people with disability across Western Australia and Tasmania. Together, our team of nearly 200 staff and over 500 volunteers support our growing group of diverse services.
**Our services at EverAbility Group include**:
VisAbility - our specialised service supporting people with blindness or vision impairment.
Guide Dogs WA and Guide Dogs Tasmania - our iconic service raising and training life changing assistance dogs.
Kites Children’s Therapy - our early intervention support, advice and solutions service transforming the lives of children and their families living with disability or developmental challenges.
**Description**:
Are you passionate about working with dogs and people? Join our dedicated team and contribute to the Guide Dogs Puppy Development Program in WA—supporting the growth, training, and assessment of pups destined for life-changing roles.
In this rewarding and hands-on role, you’ll work closely with our incredible Puppy Development Volunteers—recruiting, training, and guiding them to ensure each pup receives the socialisation and foundation they need to thrive. It’s a physically active position involving frequent walking, bending, and, of course, lots of puppy time.
If you bring empathy, compassion, and a love for supporting both animals and volunteers, this could be your perfect next step.
Key Responsibilities and accountabilities
Recruit and Support Volunteers
Recruiting, training, and ongoing development of Puppy Development Volunteers, including raisers and boarders.
Facilitating home assessments for appropriate volunteer selection.
Providing development, training and support to volunteers through group sessions, home visits, and one-on-one sessions.
Liaising with volunteers and staff members to offer advice in preparation for pup intake to training.
Puppy Development
Undertaking puppy assessments in collaboration with the Puppy Development Team, to evaluate temperament and skill levels at pre-determined times, identifying behavioural issues, and implementing appropriate solutions.
Ensuring the welfare of pups, monitoring their health, and arranging necessary vet care such as vaccinations, de-sexing and x-rays, as directed by the Program Manager.
Reporting and documenting accidents or incidents related to the dogs in accordance with safety and health policies.
Maintaining accurate and timely records, including assessment and health data, on GDWA databases.
Placement of pups in volunteer homes for raising and boarding to ensure optimal socialisation and development.
Teamwork
Collaborating with internal teams to meet the specific needs of individual dogs and ensuring their smooth and timely transition to various programs.
Meeting and documenting results against the departmental business plan.
Providing information for fundraising and marketing teams, attending and presenting at events, identifying social media opportunities and promoting the organisation through public relations activities.
Acting as an ambassador for Guide Dogs.
Supporting continuous improvement, seeking professional development opportunities, and performing other duties as directed by the Program Manager.
**Skills and Experiences**:
**Essential**:

- Experience working with volunteers, showing empathy when interacting with them.
- Demonstrated experience in puppy training and early socialisation, dog handling, assessment of temperamental and behavioural traits, and behavioural modification techniques.
- Ability to relate to dogs of all ages and at various levels of training.
- Proficiency in positive reinforcement training methods.
- Skills in problem analysis and the ability to recognise changes in dog behaviour.
- Demonstrated ability to undertake a methodical approach to your work through to completion, while maintaining flexibility and adaptability to varying workloads and tasks.
- High level of initiative, while still being able to work under direction.
- Superior planning and organising skills.
- Ability to work well within a team, as well as independently, and assuming responsibility for nominated tasks.
- Effective communication skills both oral and written.
- Demonstrated knowledge and expertise in Microsoft Office programs.
- Willingness to attain National Police Clearance, Working with Children’s Check, NDIS Worker Screening Check, Department of Justice Clearance and Valid Driver’s Licence

Desirable
- Up-to-date knowledge of Guide Dog Training theory and practices.
- Awareness of the needs of people with low or no vision, disability or illness.
- Broad base of experience in one or more IGDF or ADI accredited organisations.

**Benefits**:In return, you will be rewarded with**:
Up to 3 days additional paid leave during year-end holiday season
Salary packaging, an opportunity to increase your take-home pay
Option to purchase additional leave
17.5% annual leave loading, where applicable
Free onsite parking and close to p