Nina
1st Place Winner I 2025OZ Top Dog with a Job
Nina
Breed: Labrador
Barking from: Deebing Heights , QLD
What's up dog?
Assistance dog Nina is a vibrant, loving and loyal labrador. Nina pre alerts her hooman who suffers from daily epileptic seizures prior to a seizure by smelling the chemical change that occurs in the body. Once she detects this change she bops or nudges her hooman to alert her to lay down in a safe place, preventing serious injuries and even death. Her dedication and talent is clear often waking to alert to seizures in the middle of the night and counting over 150 seizure alerts already this year.
There is no other medical device or technology that can pre alert to epileptic seizures, making what Nina does extremely impressive and vital! Nina provides independence and safety to her hooman, as well as peace of mind to those around her who can rest assured knowing her hooman is safe. Nina has a heart full of loyalty and a calming strength that always helps keep her hooman grounded. Not all heros wear capes, some have four legs and a wagging tail!
Nina has also been raising awareness on the vital role assistance dogs play through her media presence, including being on tv and in the newspaper. Providing security, safety, independence, companionship, an unbreakable bond and unconditional love, Assistance Dog Nina embodies all the qualities of Oz Top Dog with a Job! Nina has a life saving impact on her handler, provides peace of mind to those family and friends around her, and has a positive impact on the community by raising vital awareness on the important job assistance dogs do through her media presence. With Assistance Dog Nina by her handlers side she also reduces the need for emergency services (such as ambulance, hospital and paid support workers) as she keep her handler safe with pre alerts.
2025 #OZTOPDOG Award Ceremony
After 9 weeks and over 200 entries, the search is over. people2people, in partnership with Dogs Connect, is proud to have presented the 2025 Australia Top Dog.
On behalf of the entire OZTOPDOG team, thank you to everyone who entered and helped make our 5th edition such a tremendous success. The last few months have been about celebrating our furry best friends and shedding some light on their paw-some work. While each entry was uniquely different, the one thing they all had in common was that having your tail-wagging pal around had helped improve your mental health.