Megan Taylor (19) from Surbiton has this week launched an online dog show to raise funds for the Charity Dog A.I.D., sponsored by Barkbeats.
After a head injury in 2011, Megan suffers from dizziness, poor balance, hearing loss and frequent fainting episodes which occur 4-6 times a day.
Megan has been training superdog Ruby herself to carry out a number of helpful tasks and hopes to apply to Dog A.I.D. this year, who help people with disabilities to train their own dog to assistance dog level.
The online show is open to participants around the world who have a dog and costs just £2 per entry. There are ten classes such as Best Trick, Waggiest Tail, Muddy Mutts and Best Working Dog. Entries will be in the form of a submitted picture or video and will be judged an Animal Behaviour and Welfare university student. The deadline is 27th February and judges will choose 1st, 2nd and 3rd place for each category with winners receiving a rosette, certificate and a selection of Fish4Dogs food and treats.
Picture and/or video entries can be sent as an attachment or YouTube link to rubythesuperdog.charity@gmail.com. Alternatively you can send your entries as an attachment via facebook messenger to Ruby the Superdog.
“I decided an online dog show would be an interesting twist on the more traditional format,” says Megan. “By hosting the dog show online, more people get to be involved and hopefully I can raise awareness and funds for the amazing work of Dog A.I.D. Every submission also gets entered for a prize draw to win some great goodies from Kong and Fish4Dogs, plus using our special code people can get £5 off a monthly box of toys and treats from Barkbeats!”
Dog A.I.D. was established in the 1990’s and there are currently 47 fully qualified dogs throughout the country. Training takes from 18 months to two years with both dog and owner receiving specialist education from a network of trainers based around the country. The dog owner is given all the tools required to constantly reinforce training methods learnt and also continue to teach their dog new cues and tasks independently.
For further information how you can support Dog A.I.D. via fundraising or volunteering please visit www.dogaid.org.uk.