Mind Doggling Pawsabilities for Amanda and Tiggy
Assistance Dogs Australia’s newest service dog, Tiggy opens the door to a new freedom and independence for his recipient and Wagga resident Amanda McKenzie.
Tiggy is the first ever fully fledged Assistance Dog to be placed in the Wagga region and to celebrate Cr Kerry Pascoe, Mayor of Wagga Wagga held a morning tea at Council Chambers, officially welcoming Tiggy into the community.
For the newest Assistance Dogs team, the mind doggling pawsibilities are endless. Tiggy will accompany Amanda everywhere, including work four days a week helping her to achieve everyday tasks that people with physical disabilities find difficult if not impossible to achieve;tasks such as opening and closing doors, picking up all manner of dropped items, collecting the mail or paying the cashier at the shops. Tiggy is trained to ‘speak’, attracting attention if Amanda is ever in trouble or falls out of her wheelchair, offering her more security.
In attendance at the morning tea were the stars of the event, Amanda and Tiggy, Kerry Pascoe, Mayor of Wagga Wagga, Assistance Dogs Australia’s Top Dog Richard Lord, Jessie our pilot alert dog in training and our newest recruit, a cute and cuddly Labrador puppy who’ll be puppy raised in Wagga.
Each Assistance Dog is worth an investment of $25,000 but are placed with their recipients free of charge. Tiggy was sponsored by The Good Guys and without this support Tiggy would not be where he is today.
