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Special Needs - Dogs & Handlers

	Agility on Wheels Barbara Handelmann may be newbie to agility but not to dogs. She has two different conditions, each causing chronic pain - diabetic neuropathy in her feet and fibromyalgia. She can walk, but pays a heavy price with pain, so she has been using assistive technology for about five years.  (21/8/99)
	Philippa Armstrong - To boldly go where everyone else has gone before... Having developed Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) at the age of 14 years old, Philippa Armstrong uses a wheelchair to compete in agility. By developing her own method of distance handling, she has achieved G4 and has competed in two national finals. But 39 years of RA have taken their toll on her body and the rough ground has worn out her everyday wheelchair so she's had to stop. Still she's passionate about helping other mobility impaired handlers, but now she needs a little help.
	Assist Agility When Elaine Fairhurst retired, she volunteered to work with Dog A.I.D. (Assistance In Disability),  a national voluntary organisation which provides specialised training for people with physical disabilities and their own pet dog. When one of her ladies asked about doing agility, Elaine took up the challenge even though she had no agility experience at all.
	Big Dogs Can Jump Although Great Danes are not usually known for their agility, Blake, a 70-kilo Harlequin Great Dane, is ever ready to spring into action. When his owner Jill Gibson took him along to her local agility club, they said he was too big to cope with the obstacles.' Undeterred, Jill decided to set up her own agility club for giant breeds.
	The Battle for Max's Leg Until October 2002, Annie Redding and her dog Max trained once a week. Then Max had a very bad accident and lost part of his hind leg. Amazingly that hasn't stop them doing agility. This is the story of a very brave dog!
	Deaf Dogs Roundtable What do a seven year old Maltese, a Great Dane from New England, a double merle Border Collie and a nine month old Sheltie have in common? They all do agility and they're all deaf! Agilitynet has asked four handlers around the world to talk about their deaf dogs. Here they discuss the experiences they've had with their dogs, the problems and how they solved them. (30/11/99)
	Deaf Handlers in Agility Mary-Elizabeth Simpson is a deaf handler, trainer, and breeder. Her goal is to be able to do Gamblers but how  can she, you ask, if she can't hear the whistle?  (05/10/01)
	Dee-fer Determined Saluki X Lurcher Deefer (10) has been training with her owner Amy Lawson at Chippenham Agility Club for nearly nine years now. For the most part, she really enjoys it except when she'd prefer to sunbathe. During that time, she's had quite a few clear rounds in Jumping and the occasional clear in Agility. There'd have been more Agility clears if Deefer hadn't insisted on jumping the Up contact. But that was before the accident. Now she gets nearly all of her contacts! This is her remarkable story...
	The Magic of Merlin He's deaf, not stupid. If you have ever watched Lisanne Steen guide her WSD Merlin around an agility course, you would be surprised to learn that Merlin was born deaf. How on earth was he trained to be a good companion and agility dog?
	Milo the Three Legged Dog Milo came to Heather Smith at the age of 21 months as a ‘high drive’ collie with no boundaries. He was considered out of control and aggressive. It's not an exaggeration to say that Agility was his saving grace. The past few years with him have been frustrating, rewarding, annoying, amusing, but never, ever boring. This is their true story - one not just of speed but courage in the face of adversity, commitment and perseverance. Thank you to their trainers Bobbie Boax and Morag Harris for their input.
	Taking the 'Dis' out of Disabled The bond between handler and trainer can be no greater than that between wheelchair handler Julie Thomson and her long-time trainer Jacqui Wood. Their relationship started back in 2012 and since then, Julie has risen the dizzying height of G7. They talk to Agilitynet about their training experience together and the highs and lows of competing in a wheelchair in the ring.