On July 17, 1983, Tammy dove into a pool and broker her neck. In 2011, after 28 years of pushing herself around in her wheelchair, her shoulders and back were giving her trouble. If she dropped something she had trouble bending down and then getting back up. Opening a door was difficult and painful. A friend told her about Dog Guides. That’s when Kiwi came into her life. Tammy immediately felt that their partnership was meant to be… Kiwi’s birthday is July 17th… the date of her accident.
I can’t imagine my life without Kiwi. She helps me pick things up or get things I can’t reach. She’s a great companion. Everyday with my disability is a new challenge. But with Kiwi, she takes that challenge away. She makes me feel safer. When I’m sick, she alerts my neighbours. When my chair got stuck on ice, she saved me from freezing to death by alerting a passerby. She has brought back my independence that I was losing. I’d be lost without her.