Oi Dxenion

[Steve]

One of the great things that happens as a result of the MDBA Dog Owners Choice Awards is that we hear about things people are doing in the dog world which we don't get a chance to know ordinarily.

Dxenion is doing a pretty hard slog of it in trying to have legislation changed to help people who are disabled and need assistance dogs. Due to the way current laws are Dany-el [ Dxenion] is unable to travel interstate to Brisbane to attend the awards .She needs donations to keep going and stand a chance at attaining her goal in having laws changed so I will allow her to come in here and tell you all about what she is doing - although Im pretty sure she will be ticked off about me putting the spot light on her .

[HazyWal]

BUMP

[Brennan's Mum]

I will admit, I have felt spoilt just knowing Danni- she is a wonderful friend, a great person and I am glad that she has a chance to share some more of what she is doing because it is really important for assistance dogs, their handlers and the community.

For anyone interested Danni has Facebook pages for 2 of her dogs:

Assistance Dog Trainee Rakim

Assistance Dog Tlaloc

[dogbesotted]

please do tell more......

H

[wantsapuppy]

Have liked both pages and will read about some of her work in there once kids are in bed

But I woul love to hear more about it all for said person

[Brennan's Mum]

One of the great things that happens as a result of the MDBA Dog Owners Choice Awards is that we hear about things people are doing in the dog world which we don't get a chance to know ordinarily.

Dxenion is doing a pretty hard slog of it in trying to have legislation changed to help people who are disabled and need assistance dogs. Due to the way current laws are Dany-el [ Dxenion] is unable to travel interstate to Brisbane to attend the awards .She needs donations to keep going and stand a chance at attaining her goal in having laws changed so I will allow her to come in here and tell you all about what she is doing - although Im pretty sure she will be ticked off about me putting the spot light on her .

Lol- yep, she's far too modest for all that she does .

[Dxenion]

A huge thank you to those who nominated me. After sorting out the confusion (I thought the phone call was about someone I nominated), I literally had to sit down when I was told people had nominated me.

I was nominated for my work with assistance dogs and my involvement with resolving access issues through public education and legislative review. It has been a passion of mine since I began working in public access areas with my own assistance dog and became directly affected by access issues. Aside from assisting other owner trainers to train their own dog, my assistance dog and I also give public presentations educating people about the dogs, how they can make a difference to the lives of persons with disabilities, public etiquette and the rights and responsibilities of handlers and service providers.

A person with a disability accompanied by an assistance dog has the same rights of access as guide and hearing dogs under the federal Disability Discrimination Act 1992. QLD and SA have further state based legislation, WA is currently working on an amendment to the Dog Act, Victoria is reviewing their Domestic Animals Act and an Assistance Dog National ID Program working group has been formed. Unfortunately many service providers have little or no knowledge of assistance dogs and rights of access and this can cause issues. Whilst service providers can ask for evidence that the dog is an assistance dog (trained to alleviate the effects of the person's disability) and evidence that it is trained to meet standards of hygiene and behaviour that are appropriate for an animal in a public place, persons with owner trained assistance dogs do not have access to the same forms of evidence that persons with a dog from an assistance dog organisation do. It is up to the handler to provide alternate evidence but in one particular case, reasonable alternate evidence was not accepted and the person was refused service. That person was me and it is the reason why I wont be able to attend the award ceremony in Brisbane in March.

Although I have worked with service providers at local, state and national level to successfully resolve issues, there is still one major service provider that I am aware of that has evidentiary requirements many owner trainers cannot reasonably provide. When the handler cannot provide that evidence, the service provider can legally deny them access or services. As this particular service provider's current policy affects persons with owner trained dogs throughout Australia and mediation has failed resolve the issue, unfortunately the next step is Federal Court. There are financial costs involved in making the application as well as the cost of a lawyer but the issue is too important not to pursue.

Up 'til now, I have utilised my own pension to fund what I can but it only stretches so far. The phone call today not only surprised me with the nomination but gave me some wonderful information on a way forward, so that with funding, I will be able to continue my work.

Once again, thank you to those who nominated me. Words cannot express what it means to me.

Edited to add links to the dog's Facebook pages and Youtube videos:

https://www.facebook.com/assistance.dog.tlaloc

https://www.facebook.com/assistance.dog.rakim

http://www.youtube.com/user/Dxenion

Edited January 5, 2012 by Dxenion

[Lugeanjaam]

Dxenion what wonderful work you do! I spent time last night checking out your FB pages and they are awesome.!!

Congrats on your nomination, you seriously deserve it. Anything I can do to bring awareness to your cause please let me know.

[Jigsaw]

Dxenion! Danni has helped me out when I was enquiring about accrediting owner trained assistance dogs. She knows more than any of the government agencies I came in contact with! Her knowledge is impressive as is her tenacity and desire to change things!

[Baby Dragon]

Sorry to hear about your access issues

I take it you weren't able to have him tested/accredited by an organisation or trainer yet?

Congrats on your nomination!!

Edited January 7, 2012 by Baby Dragon

[Dxenion]

Sorry to hear about your access issues

I take it you weren't able to have him tested/accredited by an organisation or trainer yet?

There's no organisation over here anymore (folded in May last year) and the service provider keeps changing the goalpost in terms of acceptable evidence. There's no one here that I know of that meets the provider's latest requirements. I have received an offer from a trainer who may fit the bill (will confirm with the provider after mid Jan) but it requires funding a return flight from Melbourne to Perth. It shouldn't be necessary as I believe it could be considered an unreasonable financial burden under the DDA. We are also trying to locate a probono lawyer for the Federal Court case. The Minister for Transport is now also involved in the matter. It's sad that it's had to go this far but unless someone makes a stand, the situation will not change.

[Brennan's Mum]

Sorry to hear about your access issues

I take it you weren't able to have him tested/accredited by an organisation or trainer yet?

There's no organisation over here anymore (folded in May last year) and the service provider keeps changing the goalpost in terms of acceptable evidence. There's no one here that I know of that meets the provider's latest requirements. I have received an offer from a trainer who may fit the bill (will confirm with the provider after mid Jan) but it requires funding a return flight from Melbourne to Perth. It shouldn't be necessary as I believe it could be considered an unreasonable financial burden under the DDA. We are also trying to locate a probono lawyer for the Federal Court case. The Minister for Transport is now also involved in the matter. It's sad that it's had to go this far but unless someone makes a stand, the situation will not change.

Well you know if there is anything I can do in anyway to help you to just let me know . As I've said before, I am happy to contribute what I can.

[~Anne~]

Wow, well done Dxenion. What a worthy nominee. I hope you get the support you need. Is there anywhere that gifts to help you can be sent?

[Baby Dragon]

Without knowing the details of the service provider, I don't really understand the issue you're having, but I hope you can get it sorted out. I can understand them wanting some sort of proof of training, but if they're changing the goal posts that would be frustrating.

Flying a distance to get your assistance dog fully accredited or re-accredited is fairly normal, most people with assistance dogs that I know of have had to do the same. There are limited organisations, so they can't be local to everyone unfortunately, meaning people often have to travel long distances or interstate. In Qld to keep state accreditation we have to re-do the test every two years. The same applies for people living interstate who have Qld accreditation. It's annoying to have to travel a distance, but I think it's understandable. It's just a part of keeping the dog's training up to date. If a person's disability prevents them from travelling long distances it can become an issue.

Anyway, I hope you can get it sorted out. It would be so much easier if there was national accreditation.

Edited January 9, 2012 by Baby Dragon

[Dxenion]

Anything I can do to bring awareness to your cause please let me know.

Well you know if there is anything I can do in anyway to help you to just let me know :). As I've said before, I am happy to contribute what I can.

I hope you get the support you need. Is there anywhere that gifts to help you can be sent?

Wow, well done Dxenion. What a worthy nominee. I hope you get the support you need. Is there anywhere that gifts to help you can be sent?

A heartfelt thank you for your offers of support.

I'm feeling very awkward at the moment accepting any donations as I am not a member of a charity, just a private individual.

MDBA has given me some great advice on how to start a charitable association through which donations can fund the work I am currently doing on my pension, but it is not set up yet.

I'll keep DOL updated on the formation of the association and the results of our work. Your posts brought a tear to my eye just to know that there are people like yourself that want to help resolve access issues, especially issues that specifically relate to persons with a disability accompanied by an owner trained assistance dog.

That is a treasured gift in itself. Thank you.