Well it might be a rather quieter affair this year for Carnival of Flowers with the Queensland borders closed again but if you are able to travel to Toowoomba for one of its premier tourism events this might be of interest.
The carnival of flowers is a big draw card for Toowoomba tourism and this year they have decided to harness the increasingly dog friendly nature of Toowoomba into the carnival agenda with a Petals and Pups promotion. Toowoomba does have a number of dog friendly venues and our parks are glorious especially at Carnival time, so if you are travelling through for carnival maybe check out this page and watch for any updates on activities: Petals and Pups. On the page you will find a list of dog friendly accommodation and a list of the dog friendly cafes, my personal favourites are Urth and Bar Wunder.
I notice the new De Dutch cafe is not on the list yet but they should be, we have taken Ada there a couple of times and their outside area is fantastic and getting better with each day, they have only recently opened and still putting finishing touches on their garden area but they are my favourite cafe at the moment, love the pancakes, the atmosphere is great.
Toowoomba has a long association with dogs at the carnival as the very first parade had a canine mascot in the form of a Pomeranian called “Puppy” who lead the Toowoomba Thistle Pipe Band. You can visit the statue memorial to Puppy up at Picnic point, just one of our many wonderful parks, not to be missed for the view it affords down the valley and the view of Tabletop also known as One Tree Hill, a significant site in the frontier wars in Southern Queensland.
If you are visiting Toowoomba for the carnival, the State Rose garden in Newtown park is another must see, not just for the roses but for the memorials to war animals and the 11th Light Horse Regiment. The Newtown park is not an off leash park but I have to confess that during the closure of the dog parks I was taking Ada down there after dark when no one was around and letting her off to do zoomies around the oval.
With closed borders the carnival of flowers might be a more subdued affair this year but I am sure it will still be worth the visit and if you are travelling about Queensland with a canine in tow, Toowoomba is one place you can be sure of a welcome. Carnival of flowers happens September 18 – 27, so still over a month away but it is never too early to start planning a trip.
Gum trees and Galaxies 
Hi Sharon, it will be a very different carnival this year, with no parade, but it’s great they have been able to adapt to the circumstances and still hold the event. Be interesting to see how it affects crowd attendance, but perhaps Queenslanders from further afield will be encouraged to check it out. Petals and Pups sounds very cute. Dan probably wouldn’t want to go anywhere near the dog friendly places, although I have wondered whether a therapy dog might help him overcome his fear.
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Hi Karen, yes it is going to be a bit of a different experience this year. I have heard of dogs being specifically trained to work with kids with autism but I would worry that it would be so easy to make things worse. Hopefully one day Dan might get to enjoy the experience of being around a dog. Maybe something small might be a good start for Dan, like a nice calm cavalier. Hopefully, I can get Ada absolutely bombproof before too long but I think she needs at least another six months before we are ready to take the therapy dog certification test. I have heard there is some interesting work being done with training assistance dogs for kids with autism, assistance dogs have the highest level of training and it is a real skill to matching the right dog to the right person but they seem to be a developing option. I had an interesting conversation with a postgrad student at uni about using assistance and therapy dogs in school, it was her area of specialization, so I look forward to any emerging research.
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Yes, I think getting the right match between child and dog would be absolutely critical, especially with a child with autism. I think it would have to be a very placid dog, and probably mute. But they do work very well for some kids, and adults too.
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You might be surprised by the visitor numbers by the look of the number of people trying to race over the border while they can. 🤷🏼♀️
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