
Help Rhyannon get to Diving Finals
My name is "Xena" Ammie Carpenter and I have a great Service Dog named Rhyannon. We have been a team since I adopted her from the Southwest Collie Rescue in Arizona when she was 8 months old. She is 3 1/2 years old now. In April her foot was run over by a shopping cart and she became fearful of going into stores. This presented us with a new challenge to overcome.We needed to find ways to rebuild her confidence. First we tried Sheep Herding - lots of fun, but not as
confidence boosting as we had hoped. I knew she loved swimming and retrieving toys so I put the two together and her true passion was born: Dock Diving.
After taking classes at Animal Watchers in Huachuca City, AZ, we competed in 3 competitions over the summer. Rhyannon has learned to deal with crowds, jump from new docks, and adjusted to the sound of the announcer and loud music. AND... she qualified at the Masters Level to compete at the NADD-AKC-Eukanuba Natioval Diving Dog Championship. Her personal best is 22.2 Feet.
Now we are asking for your help. I am currently unable to fly beacuse of my disability. So Rhyannon and I are driving across the country from Tucson, AZ to the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida starting December 10, 2017. We will be paying for transportation, housing, food (for both of us), acceptance fees, and a few supplies (wagon, backup toy, umbrella - after all we are from the desert). Any funds that are not used and all funds surpassing our goal will be donated to the Southwest Collie Rescue for their medically challenged foster dogs.
All contributions large and small will be greatly appreciated. We are so excited to be sharing Rhyannon's Big Adventure with all of you.
PS: If you are lucky and live in Tucson or on our travel route, you may run into Rhyannon and I once again fearlessly dodging shopping carts in a store near you. She started working in grocery stores in September!