In a world where she could be anything, Sarah Rodriguez became a certified professional dog trainer. Many would have imposed limitations on her in their minds because Sarah Lives with Spinal Muscular Atrophy.
Spinal Muscular Atrophy is a rare neuromuscular disease that affects individuals’ control of their voluntary muscles. She is living proof that individuals living with disabilities are just as capable dog trainers and pet owners as their able-bodied counterparts.
On this pet-friendly program, Sarah shares her expertise and experience as owner of Homeschooled Hound, the business she started to teach others how to grow closer with their furry friends. We hear where her passion for animals began and the science behind positive reinforcement.
Listen in for Sarah’s tips for more accessible pet training and pet caring for those across the spectrum of mobility.
Produced and edited by Dominick Trevethan. This program originally aired in a longer form on the Disability Myth.
TRANSCRIPT
♪ Keep on pushing, keep on pushing ♪ ♪ I’ve got to keep on pushing,
keep on pushing ♪ ♪ I can’t stop now ♪ ♪ Move up a little higher, some way, somehow ♪
Dominick Trevethan: Welcome to Pushing Limits, KPFA’s program by and about people with disabilities that airs every Friday at 2:30pm. My name is Dominick Trevethan and I will be your host today as I am joined by my friend Sarah Rodriguez, owner of Homeschooled Hound.
Sarah also lives with spinal muscular atrophy, the same genetic condition that I was born with. Essentially, we both have extremely limited range of motion, as the motor neurons that control our voluntary muscles lack a protein needed to stay alive and healthy. As a result of this, our muscles are extremely atrophied, which has led us to live our lives as power wheelchair users. As you will hopefully come to learn throughout the rest of this program, despite the fact that we look different, we are adaptable and we can accomplish anything that anyone else can. On today’s program, we will be talking about ways in which people with disabilities can adapt to become capable dog trainers and pet owners, despite the misconception that we may struggle to do so.
Additionally, this program aired as a one hour-long discussion on my podcast, “The Disability Myth,” which I co-host with my caretaker and best friend, Uriel Ruelas. If you’d like to learn more about me, Uriel, and our takes on the disabled experience, check us out on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, and /or YouTube. Also, be sure to keep up with us on socials, such as Facebook and Instagram @thedisabilitymyth, all one word. In the meantime, here are Sarah’s thoughts on those misconceptions that I mentioned earlier:
Sarah Rodriguez: So I know that a lot of people think like, “Oh, you can’t you know make physical contact with your dog if you’re like in a wheelchair, so you can’t provide comfort and love to them,” or, “You mustn’t be able to feed them, because physically it’s hard for you to move,” and I think there’s so many different ways to meet the dog’s needs or any animal’s needs for that matter. And like for example you know I think so many people think like ‘oh I just love to hug my dog’ and as a dog trainer I can tell you like most dogs actually hate to be hugged. Humans love to like hug people and that’s how they show affection. But when you look at like dogs together and they’re like have a deep bond, they like to curl up next to each other. They’ll lick them, they’ll like be near them. But it’s not like they’re like petting each other or hugging them. So even if a dog like sleeps with you or curls up next to you, that’s a lot of what they need as far as social and physical contact.
And there are definitely ways that we can love on them, give them scritches and just have fun with them, play with them. As a dog trainer, I do a lot of adaptive training with people. So I make it accessible for them so if they have a disability, we work around how we can make it possible for them to build a bond through playing and training, how they can feed them in different ways and so I love to be able to do that because it really opens up people’s worlds to really help them be the primary caretaker for their dog.
Dominick T.: Now I’m a big fan of dogs. Throughout the course of my life, I’ve probably had two different dogs. However, unfortunately due to circumstances, I never had them for very long. Perhaps if I had, I may have become a dog trainer like Sarah. So I asked her where her passion for dog training and animals in general came from.
Sarah R.: Yeah, so I actually started out, we adopted our first dog from the animal shelter when I was five years old. And I actually was very scared of dogs when I was a child. So it’s funny because like I went from being afraid of dogs to like absolutely adoring them once I adopted her. It was just like ‘oh my gosh like I just love this feeling of like just so much non -judgmental unconditional love’. Like dogs don’t have expectations of how we’re supposed to look or what we’re supposed to be able to do. They just love you for who you are and so my passion I think for animals really started there. And then I started volunteering at the animal shelter when I was a young teen and I realized how many people just don’t understand their dog or have a bond with them. And so, they would give them up at the animal shelter. And so, I really wanted to help people experience the joy of sharing their life with an animal and also to be able to bond with them and understand what they needed through training.
Dominick T.: One of the things that I’ve come to love most about animals is the fact that they don’t have prejudice. They either like you or they don’t. However, it’s always been my perception and likely a misconception that dogs and animals in general tend to freak out at the sight of my wheelchair. Common experiences include lots of barking and running around. So, I asked Sarah, how wheelchair users and those with a mobility device can overcome this.
Sarah R.: My goal is to find what makes the animal want to do things. And so we pull that reinforcement and we find what motivates them. And so we’re able to get the behaviors that we want. Not by forcing them, it doesn’t take physical force. In fact, you have a deeper relationship with your dog if you let them choose to want to listen to you.
And as far as like the fear of wheelchairs and all of that… A lot of times… like I mean I work with a bunch of different clients and dogs are always coming, and some are not familiar with like a moving wheelchair. And so I just try to like stay still in the beginning and let the dog really get comfortable
Because sometimes if we move to too much in the beginning, they’re like ‘oh my god somebody’s like sitting randomly on the sidewalk and they’re moving” and it’s just like mind -blowing for them.
So I think the first thing is just let them kind of come up and sniff you and be able to (and you might want to turn off your wheelchair because I have been driven by animals before). But it’s really surprising how much dogs gain confidence and get information by sniffing. So by providing them that opportunity to just sniff and kind of go at their own pace without us doing anything like to move too much or anything like that, it really gives them the time. And so if like you’re adopting a dog and they’re maybe kind of a little nervous, what you can do is just like toss treats to them or have somebody else toss treats as you move tiny, tiny bits from further away. So they’re never like forced to be too close to something that’s scary. And then we use classical conditioning by making a positive association. So every time he or she moves, I get a treat. So then moving is actually a really good thing.
Dominick T.: The power of understanding motivations is obviously a great tool for any pet owner. But you might be wondering, what are some more tangible ways that individuals living with disabilities can adapt training methods to make them just a little more accessible.
Sarah R.: Yeah, so I think one of the things like when we talk about luring a dog — so that means like putting a treat in front of their nose and holding it up over their head and going back to get the dog to sit, for example. Sometimes that can be really hard to do because you have to like bend over and reach the dog way down to the ground. So you can raise the dog up. You can put them on a sofa, or on a training platform, or on top of a couple stairs so you can reach them better.
I know one thing that I do, even just for people who have a puppy and are teaching loose leash walking, it can be really hard to be reinforcing the dog with treats and you have to like bend all the way to the ground because the puppy is so small. You can use a little spoon like a wooden spatula or something like that that’s longer, you know. Those wooden paint sticks they have at Home Depot, you can smear some peanut butter on the end of that and then give the dog a little lick as they’re walking with you. So there’s a lot of ways to make training more adaptable.
There’s also like, it’s called like when you use clickers, you can use like an app on the phone, so it’s just like a touch instead, or you can just use a word like ‘yes’ to mark a behavior. You don’t have to use a clicker. So there’s a lot of ways to really adapt training, and then of course the automatic treat dispensers, so that you don’t have to be physically right there. You can feed the dog from afar.
Dominick T.: A lot of these ideas that Sarah mentions are really innovative, cost effective, and surprisingly simple. So we continue the conversation by asking her the most innovative adaptation that she has made in regards to her pet training regimen.
So surprisingly, that would be a wrapping paper roll. So I was teaching my dog to walk on a treadmill at the time and I couldn’t… every time I tried to toss a treat into the bowl that was on it, it would roll off and then he’s like falling off the treadmill. So I got a wrapping paper — you know the roll inside their wrapping paper? It’s long and so it’s like a shoot. So I was able to drop the treats perfectly in there and then that ended up being a really cool way to actually feed your dog too. If you want to just dump the food into the bowl without it bouncing out everywhere you can use a wrapping paper roll.
Dominick T.: Again, these adaptations are surprisingly simple, and they are easy to implement in the home. However, just like any other animal, dogs need to go out and socialize with other dogs. So we asked Sarah if she had any tips on socializing dogs for those with a mobility device, such as a wheelchair.
Sarah R.: Yeah, so I think for somebody with a disability, it’s always wise to have someone with you who can help in dangerous situations. For example, I don’t walk my dog myself just because sometimes there’s loose dogs that come running out of nowhere and I don’t want them to hurt my dog. And it’s not like I can just pick him up and go.
So I always like to have that little safety net but you would be surprised like how many opportunities there are as far as resources go. So if you don’t have someone who can walk with you, you can find a neighbor or you know, there are so many different ways that you can even hire someone for really cheap to go on walks with you just to keep your dog safe.
But as far as socialization, I think it’s really important to know the other dog that your dog’s going to be socializing with. So for example, I often tell clients if you’re looking for a doggy friend for your dog, you can go to like a dog park, but dog parks can be really dangerous. So what I tell people is go without your dog and just stand there and watch the dogs play. And if you see a dog that’s playing really, really nicely and proper social behavior, that’s really polite, is to see a dog kind of doing 50/50 of like chasing the dog and then being chased. So you never want to choose a dog that’s just like chasing another dog all the time, because that’s kind of more of a bully behavior. So you want to look for friends to your dog who is very kind and gentle with other dogs and plays appropriately. And then you can ask them, them, “Hey, you know, I have a dog, would you be willing to kind of do like a play date?”
And so you can start with like dogs on leash and just kind of parallel walking so that they get used to each other’s scent. They can sniff. They’re still on the move, so it’s not confrontational. And then if something goes wrong, each person already has the leash on their dog. They can just pull them apart much easier. So that’s a nice way to do introductions. That’s much safer. And then of course, you can do positive reinforcement too. So, if your dog is really, really shy, just let them see dogs from afar and get treats and then leave.
Social interactions should not be very long. So I would say like under 45 minutes, probably like 30 minutes. Because if a dog gets tired, either your dog or the other dog, and then one of the dogs wants to play more, that’s where we can get into issues where one dog gets aggressive because they’re like, ‘Stop already, I’m tired’. So we want to keep it very short. And that can also reduce chances of aggression as well.
Dominick T.: At this point in our conversation, I thought to myself, “Wow, Sarah must really help a lot of people”. But as she details, some people aren’t so quick to accept her as a professional. And some even disregard her entirely based off of the fact that she has a visible disability.
Sarah R.: Yeah, so I actually have had some negative experiences. So at first I started out, you know, I would talk to the potential client and answer their questions and set everything up. And then, you know, okay, so we’re going to get together, you know, next Tuesday. And I would say, and, ‘You know, just to let you know, I’m in a wheelchair’. So I just, you know, either I would ask them ‘Is your house, you know, accessible or other stairs, or can we meet outside?” Or, you know, ‘You’re welcome to come to me’. And, you know, I’ll get people like, ‘Oh, wow, that’s that’s interesting you’re in a wheelchair. Yeah, so I’m really gonna have to call you back. Let me just check with my wife,’ or like you know, whatever, and then they would never call back.
So then I started kind of testing it. And I was like, maybe I just won’t tell people. And I’ll just tell them I’m doing it at my house and they can come to me. So I started doing that. And then people would like… I would definitely get more clients. And then, because they were already there, then they can just, you know, go through the session. And then they were really happy with the information they got. And so they would continue coming.
But it’s crazy, how that thought that like ‘oh they’re disabled well how can they possibly help me train my dog?’ And I think it stems a lot from the mentality of like dominance theory and all of that. That like well you’ve got to be physically you know keep pushing your dogs to the ground and that kind of thing and use a lot of force and and all of that. And I think you know that’s unfortunately why that contributes to somebody with a disability being a dog trainer, maybe not getting as many clients because people think, ‘Oh, they can’t possibly do it’. And I’ve actually, I did have one client who did come and she was like, ‘Oh, I didn’t expect, you know, someone in a wheelchair’. And like, she ended up not even paying me for that session and she wasn’t even like paying attention. It was like, she didn’t even want to look at me. It was like, it was so horrible.
Dominick T.: You’re listening to Pushing Limits, KPFA’s program about disability. The voice you just heard was that of Sarah Rodriguez, who is owner of Homeschooled Hound. And today, we’ve been talking about ways in which people with disabilities can adapt to become capable dog trainers and pet owners — despite the misconception that we may struggle to do so.
In my discussion with her, Sarah came off as a very experienced and knowledgeable dog trainer. Her list of credentials is long and actually includes being a certified professional dog trainer, certified dog behavior consultant, and a Fear Free Professional. Now just like any other professional, Sarah spent a lot of time earning those credentials through various programs. So we took the time to ask her about her experience as someone studying how to become a certified professional dog trainer with a disability.
Sarah R.: Yeah, so at first, I was trying to find a school that would accommodate me and, surprisingly, a lot of them would not. You know, I would ask them, you know, ‘I’m in a wheelchair, like can we make adaptions or, you know, I want to be able to train dogs.’ And they weren’t interested in helping me. So there was one that did and it was called the Ethology Institute. And so that’s where I got my first certification as a certified professional dog trainer. So there was a lot of like book learning and all of that and exams. And then once you complete that, you had to do what was called a proficiency verification exam. So you had to train your dog like a series of really complicated behaviors. And I think the only adaption that they had to make for that exam was one of the behaviors was to weave through your legs. And obviously, I couldn’t do that. So I had my dog weave through cones which is actually harder to teach and so they were totally open to that. That was fine.
And then the handling thing. In the beginning you’re supposed to like have the dog in a heel position and accept handling and I couldn’t do the handling. So somebody else just had to do the handling, which again is harder because if the dog’s already trained with you, they’re going to be more comfortable with you handling them.
And then lastly, some of the behaviors were on leash, and I just opted to do it off leash. So there was no chance of getting tangled up or anything like that. And again, off leash is harder, because the dog knows they can just wander off if they wanted to. So they were really accommodating, though, and I was able to pass. So, so yeah, that was really awesome.
And then, so that was the first certification program. And then the second one was the CDBC was like a written exam. And you had to share case studies and like answer a bunch of questions. So all of that was just like written type stuff to test your knowledge. And then the Fear Free program was the same. It was a lot of online stuff. And then you take the test and get your certification. With the CPDT, I also had to put in a certain amount of hours with…
I think it was like 300 hours or something like that. It’s been several years now. I can’t remember exactly. But I just did a lot of training with like friends and family’s dogs, and then I did shelter dogs as well. So that’s how I got the experience, like learning with a variety of dogs.
Dominick T.: Three hundred hours for one credential is no joke, not to mention the other two that she has. And Sarah has obviously put in the time and the effort to reach her level of expertise. However, some people may try to undermine the whole process.
Sarah R.: And it’s sad because like there’s actually no, there’s no like laws against calling yourself a dog trainer. So people like the dog whisperer or dog daddy can just be like, “Today I’m a dog trainer,” and they have no certification, no like prior learning whatsoever, and they just do their own thing. So it’s really important that whenever you’re looking for a trainer to make sure that they’ve done the work, that they’ve learned, because you’re paying a lot of money for someone just to call themselves a dog trainer. So you want to make sure that they have certifications. It’s not a lot out there, like as far as information goes about this. And so, you know, well-meaning pet parents are just wanting to get their dog trained. And so they go to the nearest, you know, dog trainer they find on Google. And unfortunately, sometimes that means that the person is not credited. And so you always want to make sure that they have credentials and when they say that they do, you can look them up. You can always make sure too that if you’re looking for a dog trainer, you don’t want to go for a Board and Train because what happens is a lot of times these kennels will take your dog and charge you a ton of money and the dog stays in a kennel all day and then comes out for training for like an hour or two a day. So they’re really not getting, they’re basically staying in a cage stressed out for a majority of the day. And so if you do board and train, you want to make sure it’s a certified trainer who keeps it at their house or they come to you and they’re really intensely working with your dog, because you’re paying way too much money for your dog to sit in a kennel.
Sarah R.: And always go with your gut if you feel like something a trainer is doing is wrong or harmful to your dog. Always go with your gut because that usually will not steer you wrong. And make sure that you know, you advocate for your dog all the time.
Dominick T.: Towards the end of our conversation with Sarah it became obvious to both Uriel and I that she would train practically any animal and she’s capable of it too. So, given the bad rap that they get in the media, we asked Sarah about her thoughts on pit bulls and the aggression that they are typically associated with.
Sarah R.: Yeah, so I think it’s really a matter of breeding. So unfortunately, there’s a lot of people who breed dogs for dog fighting, for example. And so, the genetic line that they’re going to choose is going to be dogs who have a predisposition towards being more aggressive, for example. But even with that being the case, pit bulls were bred to be aggressive to other dogs, never people. So if a dog has an aggression, it would usually be towards a dog within that breed.
But I think they get a bad rep because they are bigger and more powerful dogs. So if a chihuahua bites somebody, it’s not gonna make the news ’cause they made a nick in their big toe. But if a pit bull bites someone’s arm and there’s gonna be a bigger mark, the person’s gonna be more traumatized ’cause that was just a more scary experience. And that’s the case with any larger dog. But unfortunately, that’s what makes the news. And so people hear one story and think, ‘Oh, you know, pit bulls are bad’, but that’s not the case at all. They’re very, very sweet dogs. They have great personalities, and they’re not, you know, a dangerous type of dog.
It really, again, depends on their upbringing. And their genetics, too, plays a part, so you always want to make sure that you, you know, learn about the dog. Be careful where you get them from, if you’re going to choose a breeder. But there are plenty of really amazing dogs at the shelter who have been temperament tested. Or go with a rescue who knows a lot about the dog and they can you know have been in foster care and so they can tell you all about them.
Dominick T.: Feeling enlightened on various fronts regarding dog training and common misconceptions associated with it. We asked Sarah if she had any advice for individuals that may be hesitant towards taking in a pet regardless of their level of mobility.
Sarah R.: Yeah, I think as far as advice goes, just remember that you’re not in it alone. You can really build a support system by using resources. You’d be surprised how many people would love to help.
So there are so many people who wish they could have a dog but they don’t have the time. I see it all the time in like the Next Door app. People want to like walk dogs because they find it really relaxing, or helpful for their depression, or you know they want to get out more but they want to have a reason to. And so they’ll walk your dog for free, you know you can just put it out there and say ‘Hey you know I need somebody to help me walk my dog.’ And see what’s available. Maybe you know there’s some people you pay a couple bucks or you know ask a neighbor or a friend. But I think just remember that you’re never alone and that you can seek people to help you and then find resources.
As far as ways that you can adapt things, because there is always a way, If you think like ‘Oh I can’t play with my dog,’ you absolutely can. It just takes a little bit more adoption, but there are ways to use lightweight toys. You can teach a dog to enjoy fetching an empty water bottle. It doesn’t weigh much and it’s easier to throw or use an automatic ball launcher, like the iFetch.
So there’s a lot of different ways that we can make it accessible for us to work with dogs, to train them, to bond with them, to play with them, to feed them — everything needed for their care.
Dominick T.: I love these final sentiments by Sarah because they embodied the idea that people with disabilities, you know, we’re not so different that we cannot care for a pet. Where there is a will, there is a way. And on that note, we asked Sarah a question that we tend to ask all of our guests on the podcast ‘What do you wish more people understood about individuals living with disabilities?’
Sarah R.: I wish that more people understood that we were just like everybody else and We’re just as capable. I think so often we get overlooked for what we can do. For example, as a dog trainer, it’s like, well, we can’t physically handle a Great Dane. So therefore, you’re not capable of training one, but we absolutely are. Sometimes it takes more creativity like we talked about and different adaptions, but we are capable of making a difference in the world. And we’re just like everybody else.
Dominick T.: Once again, this is Dominick Trevethan, and I would like to give a big thanks to Sarah Rodriguez for her time and her expertise. Another huge thanks to our engineer Rod Akil and the entire Pushing Limits gang, especially for welcoming a rookie like me onto the team so graciously.
And of course, thank you for listening. Pushing Limits is produced, of course, by a collective of people with disabilities. If you’d like to get in touch with us, contact us by email at pushinglimits, all one word, at kpfa.org. Our website is pushinglimitsradio.org and you can also find us on Facebook at pushinglimitsradio.
Additionally, one final thanks to everyone who joined KPFA during the Winter Fund Drive. If you haven’t joined us, you have until December 31st to make a tax-deductible donation and pick up a thank you gift. Simply go to kpfa.org or call 1-800-439-5732. Again, you can go to kpfa.org or call 1-800-439-5732.
And be sure to stay tuned for Talk It Out Radio coming up next.
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