Check out Argus! Not only did he earn his AKC CGC Award but also earned his Rally I Title. Congratulations to Reed Morgan and her amazing deaf dog Argus for showing the world that Deaf Dogs Rock. We are so proud of you both! ~ Christina and Nitro
Here are some of the details sent in by Reed: Argus is a 2.5 year old Australian Shepherd (read Argus and Gator’s Happy Tail by clicking here) who has always had some vision impairment. Recently he lost complete sight in his right eye and we learned of a small but non-threatening (for now) cataract in his left eye. The timing could not have been worse because three weeks later we were scheduled for his CGC test along with his first Rally Obedience trial ever! The thought crossed my mind to pull out of both, but I decided to retrain some signals and put the time in. We had already come too far to stop!
The loss of sight was a little difficult, as I had trained for him to be on my left side, but Argus never showed me that he was uncomfortable or let down by it. In fact, I was more sentimental and upset about it then he was. Sometimes I feel like Argus and I have such a great connection that sight and hearing don’t even matter.
In less than 5 days time Argus was awarded his CGC and his Rally 1 title. He also received the Award of Excellence for high scores on his Rally runs and we were awarded the best team award.
We still plan to advance in rally as long as his eye sight will let us. Next stop, Rally 2!
(photos courtesy of Reed Morgan. Argus with his Awards and Argus and Reed doing the happy dance)
How wonderful for Argus and you – congratulations! How old is Argus? It’s bizarre that you mention he has lost the sight in one eye and has the manageable cataract in the other … that is EXACTLY what my 7yo Aussie has! He lost his sight around Fall last year but the vet eye specialist said we should be able to control and save the other eye. I know exactly how you feel – it breaks my heart! I wanted to do Rally with Shelby, but they only allow vaccinated/titred dogs and he reacts very badly to vaccinations so I don’t do them. The titres are even more expensive and not always accurate. Sorry to ramble, but he is so important to me and it’s wonderful to see Argus succeeding with the same health issues!
Heather