“Roxy is the 50/50 dog. Fifty percent of what she does is the physical tasks she’s been trained to help me with. The other 50% is the companionship. She’s a complete wonder dog. Roxy is my best friend and I know that I could not achieve the things I want to in life without her help and companionship.
Assistance Dogs Australia has provided me with the most invaluable life tool I could possibly need. They don’t ask for anything in return. They will never know how grateful I am for the gift they have given me.”
Tim McCallum, recipient of an ADA dog and one of our Ambassadors
During two years of training, each dog learns up to 50 highly specialized commands which will help them to transform the life of someone living with disability. To date we have placed 160 trained dogs across Australia, completely free of charge.
To meet the broad range of needs of those living with disability, we train three different types of Assistance Dogs, ensuring that what we offer is tailored for someone in need:
Service Dogs
Service Dogs are our most highly skilled dogs; their learning is specialised making them suitable for owners confined to wheelchairs, often with severe physical disabilities such as C4 quadriplegia, paraplegia, cerebral palsy and multiple sclerosis. These dogs are certified for public spaces, granting their owners mobility and support wherever they go.
Facility Dogs
Facility Dogs assist people living in special needs school units, hospices, elderly care homes and other, non-residential settings. Their presence alleviates loneliness and is also helping to turn around anti-social behaviour in schools.
Companion Dogs
Companion Dogs are placed in the home for a child who requires one-to-one skilled support for physical and/or developmental disabilities, such as muscular dystrophy or Aspergers Syndrome. The dog undertakes specialised tasks to physically help around the house — and importantly becomes their best mate 24/7.
You can find out all about us at: www.assistancedogs.org.au.
It’s a Dog’s Job – Please help us do it!
We believe that having a disability shouldn’t mean losing your independence or dignity. That’s why we do what we do. We train dogs (and people) so they can work together as teams: letting people with special needs – be they physical disabilities, developmental disabilities or those living in facilities – live more fulfilled lives.
To train a dog to the level we require takes two years and can cost in excess of $27,000, which puts hope out of reach for many Australians. But, as a registered charity, we’re committed to putting a meaningful life back within the reach of people in need.
We receive no government funding so rely on the generosity of individual supporters, corporate sponsors and fantastic volunteers to carry out our work.
If you would like to help us continue this im-paw-tant work please contact us on 1800 688 364 or visit www.assistancedogs.org.au.
$2 from each copy sold will be donated to Assistance Dogs Australia.
‘We thank Steve for his support of Assistance Dogs Australia. I hope that he convinces consultants to be more like dogs by loving clients more than they love themselves!’
Richard Lord,
Top Dog, Assistance Dogs Australia