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Coaches – Please be supportive of dogs with disabilities!
I have a dog with a disability. She was born with a deformed right leg. The instructor in our puppy class was horrible to us. She made me feel like my dog was not even worthy enough to be in her class. I have since become involved with the Special K9 Games which celebrates specially-abeled dogs. I have seen deaf/blind dogs do amazing things and these owners adapt training to accommodate them. Some examples I’ve seen are a “thumbs up” as a marker for a deaf dog or touch cues for a blind dog. I guess my point is…please don’t write off dogs that are different.
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18 Replies
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@tripod_mom – I sent you a private message and want to also say publicly – THANK YOU for bringing this topic up. It’s SO IMPORTANT that coaches are helping people with the dog they have, to be the best they can be. If a coach cannot do that, then the ethical thing to do is to refer you on to another training coach. All dogs deserve to have the best of their potential brought out – and especially when their “mom” is as dedicated as you obviously are.
You should be ridiculously proud of all that you have accomplished. Thanks for the reminder to be kind with all our clients and their pets!
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Also – I would love to learn more about the Special K9 Games – is that kind of like Special Olympics, but for dogs? Do you have more info for us?
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Yes! The Special K9 Games are an annual event held in Columbus, Ohio (until the pandemic ruined everything). They have Saturday workshops on a variety of dog sports (agility, rally, rodeo dog, happy ratters, disc, tricks). Many of the dogs that come have never even tried dog sports before because there are venues out there that automatically disqualify us. On Sunday, there are competitions in each category. They don’t have a website, but if you search Facebook for “special k9 games” the page will come up. In fact, they are this weekend. We are not able to go this year, but have always enjoyed ourselves in the past. These pictures are from the 2019 games.
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What lovely photos!
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I love love love this!!! Also a tripawd mommy over here! I feel like there should be a nationally recognized k9 special Olympics being that we have so many nationally recognized dog shows. As a trainer my heart beats extra hard having a special needs dog in class or as a client. It makes us better trainers to be able to think outside the box and challenge them in ways they can succeed… and boy oh boy when they succeed it is such a proud moment. Picture of my tripawd just for the smiles. Thanks for this discussion; let’s hope this becomes bigger and bigger as time he’s one ❤️
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Love this statement:
“It makes us better trainers to be able to think outside the box and challenge them in ways they can succeed.” Amen, @jfly1321 !BTW, your dog and that photo are gorgeous.
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My Catch mentor taught me one phrase that will forever have me teaching and educating….
“When you know better, you do better”
We can expect people to do better if they don’t know… so sharing trainer knowledge gives them that opportunity ????
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“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”― Maya Angelou
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Beautiful dog! Check out the Special K9 Games on Facebook. There are some amazing dogs with disabilities out there! Also, check out another Facebook page “Tripods Rocking K9 Sports”. There is currently a petition going around asking the AKC to allow tripods to compete in obedience and rally.
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Thank you so very much! One day my battle with the CGC test would be allowing exceptions for dogs with disabilities as well. My poor girl passes all aspects except sit and stay in place for pets. Girl can stand stay for hours but can’t maneuver a sit ????. You’ve definitely breached a topic that AKC needs to be more open minded about!
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Right???
Recently, AKC started allowing tripods to do agility and fast cat…but won’t allow allow rally or obedience. You would think it would be the other way around. Fortunately, Jordi and I just do scent work and she has no desire to do anything else. She does have a WCRL rally title and we would have continued with it, but she didn’t love it so I let her quit.
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Love you tapping into what she likes and letting her thrive there kudos!!!
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Hear hear!
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❤️
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This is such a great topic and awesome discussion. Thanks for sharing about the games – it looks like a ton of fun and a warm, receptive place for everyone. Just lovely!
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That’s so awesome! I never knew they had something like the Special K-9 games, what a really cool sport. I love your dog! What a sweetie 🙂
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@Tripod_Mom : Thank you for sharing your experiences with us! I wish that everyone could learn to train the dog in front of them. Your lovely pup is obviously an amazing athlete!
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