Dexter Got His Title!

[Jed]

Sorry wrong thread

Edited March 13, 2005 by Jed

[gareth]

Sorry this all strikes me as a bit strange. Dexter was placed with a disabled person, then returned becuase of a minor medical problem? What was the problem that led him to be taken from someone who needed him yet he was able to do training with you? Is he going back to the same disabled person?

You seem very defensive aatainc. Why is that? Sure Rackrune post was aggressive, but I often find that where there is smoke there is fire. It would be better for your credibility to answer rationally rather than be angry and rude and pick faults with someone's spelling mistakes.

Quote:

The number of dogs that I have trained as assistance dogs is none of your business

If you are accepting public donations to train and look after these dogs, I think you are certainly accountable to the public.

I would like to know a bit more about the 10 dogs you have trained. Have they been placed with disabled people? How are they going?

It might be good to share these sort of stories with us so that we know the donations are being put to a good cause and people would be more forthcoming with further funds

[Maverick]

Congrats again :D

Still haven't forgotten about my donation... One puppy in a couple of years

[aatainc]

Gareth he had to have surgery for lip fold dermatitis. as I paid for the surgery I wanted to make sure that I did the aftercare myself to make sure that it didn't get infected but having a few stiches in the lip doesn't stop a dog from trialing - I got vet permission of course. He is not going back to the same person because she didn't believe that they were quite physically compatible - she has asked for a different dog which suits her more and she is about to get that dog and dexter is about to go somewhere else. This happens all the time (ask somewhere like guide dogs) to other orgs so please don't attack me for it - it just wasn't a perfect match physically, although he did work well for her, and she was very impressed with what he did for her.

I am defensive because I am tired of being attacked by people who know nothing about the situation. That person inferred that I was dishonest and that I was swindling the public and our sponsors. How would you feel if someone accused you of cheating people out of money? That's what racknrune did.

I believe that I am accountable to those to give of their time, money, resources etc. I do not believe that I am accountable to a person who posted merely to stir things up and who has never contributed a cent towards what I am doing. If you want to make a donation, volunteer, or foster a dog then I'll give you all the information you want. In the meantime, please understand that I give 120% of myself each and every day and it has eaten away at my marriage, my health and my finances in a major way so I really don't need to be attacked on top of that. I am here as an individual not as an organisation and I don't believe that it is my responsibility to outline every action of the organisation to every tom dick and harry who asks!! I don't have the energy for that quite frankly.

It is over ten dogs that I have trained, plus I have aided another 6 (soon to be 10) people in getting their own dogs certified as assistance dogs - which they largely trained themselves but I helped them get formal recognition. This also takes up a lot of my time. Of those that I trained myself, one has stayed with me as our demonstration dog (grace), 2 were sadly retired at the end of their training due to them developing orthopaedic problems (before they were placed but they were fully trained) the rest are all yes, placed, and are going great guns. I have had one client come back for a second dog from me, and most of my clients on my current waiting list have been referred by past clients.

On average, since we started up, we have placed more dogs per year than guide dogs queensland. This is phenomenal since we have only 1 staff member and they have 60 - and most of our dogs spend as long trainign as a guide dog.

I have raging tonsilitis and have been out working for the last 10 hours. I still have 2-3 hours of admin to do today and the house to clean. Sorry if I sound tired and fed up. I guess I am a bit today.

[snobbybobby]

Hello aatainc!

First of all let me congratulate you and Dexter on getting his title! Well done!!

Secondly, and more importantly , let me congratulate you on doing such a wonderful job in training service dogs. There are always going to be detractors such as racknrune, unfortunately the Internet makes that type of person feel much more powerful

On another note - why would they criticize someone for competing using the skills the dog has learned, forgive me for being somewhat simplistic but - if one takes a a look at some of the skills that dogs have to acquire for the UD title for example, "seek back" - looking for something the owner dropped, retrieving dumbells to name a couple, these are behaviours I'm sure would be taught to service dogs.

UD & OC don't need dogs to open doors, put washing into the machine and turn off lights BUT geesh! to my mind, they are even more stunning behaviours that are more useful, if not less "showy".

Keep up the good work!

Henrynchlo

[gareth]

Ok, so it's hard and exhausting work, but is it worthwhile?

Can you tell us more about the dogs you have trained that have made it, and have changed the life of a disabled person?

Would love to know what breeds have been the best, and whether any of the rescue dogs have been successful.

Have looked at your website but there is only one success story there that I can see.

Go on, have a good brag Sounds like you deserve it. Tell us why you do it all, if it is so hard and financially unrewarding!

What is the worst of it, and what is the best, and how does the future look for aatainc?

Edited March 15, 2005 by gareth

[aatainc]

Gareth, do you mind if I do that in another topic in off-topic? I'll wait a few days - I"m still pretty sick and these rotten antibiotics haven't kicked in yet.

Keep an eye out - might call it "a day in the life of me"

There is only one success story on the site because hubby is too lazy to add more! I am not too good at web pages that involve photos and I have written a lot of the text but I'm not able to add photos in yet and do all the formatty stuff. Have been meaning to update that page for ages. Thanks for the reminder.

[gareth]

Gareth, do you mind if I do that in another topic in off-topic? I'll wait a few days

Keep an eye out - might call it "a day in the life of me"

Did I miss this? Or haven't you posted it yet? If you ahve can you point it out?

[aatainc]

Hi Gareth,

sorry, i"ve only just gotten over the illness and have been out all week placing dexter with his new recipient. I thought if I waited until that match has finalised then I can comment on how that's going as well.

I might have time this long weekend.