Braille, an Australian shepherd, is blind and deaf, but that didn’t stop him from playing the piano a week ago Friday at the World Dog Expo, held in Secaucus through Sunday.
Braille was among hundreds of dogs that visited or participated in the trade show and competitions, which highlighted dog products from around the country.
The show brought visitors from near and far who wanted to display their pet products, compete, or just enjoy looking at dogs like Braille.
Braille is known as a double merle, meaning he comes from two breeds with the merle dog coat pattern—a pattern which can create a gene mutation, causing visual and hearing deficiencies in offspring.
“He actually does just fine,” said owner Rose Adler. “He kind of maps different areas. In the house, or if we go to a new area, he’ll kind of run into things and remember where they are.” Adler helps run Keller’s Cause, an advocacy group for special needs dogs.
Because of Braille’s condition, he is unable to see social cues from other dogs when playing alongside them, Adler said.
“So if he’s with another dog that doesn’t like dogs in their personal space, I have to monitor that to make sure that there aren’t any social boundaries crossed,” Adler said. “He can’t see body language, or he can’t hear a growl. Other than that, he loves dogs and loves people. He’s probably happier than other dogs.”
Keller, a regular merle owned by the same person, also performed alongside Braile during his showcase.
Training platform
Nearby, professional dog trailer Jamie Popper showcased The Klimb, a training platform from Blue 9 Products, to help manage dog behaviors such as jumping on guests and begging at the dinner table. On hand to help her demonstrate was Roo, her pet Australian shepherd who has won numerous awards in competitive obedience.
“He’s looking quite well.” – Caroline Blose
“The premise is, you teach them to go to their climb and stay there,” Popper explained, about the product.
The device is also useful for sport training as well, such as agility training, according to Popper.
Situated not that far away, Lis De Souza was showcasing products for Andis Grooming. She was using them to trim Lazu, a Pomeranian dog. De Souza was also practicing for a grooming competition later that weekend.
“She seems like a diva sometimes,” De Souza said about Lazu. “She’s used to all of this. I’m kind of giving her a shape so she looks like a squishy marshmallow.”
Wolf dogs
Products weren’t the only offerings. The Howling Woods Farm, based in Jackson, brought its wolf/dog breeds to the show. The dogs are offspring from regular domestic breeds mixed with pure wolves.
“These animals are bred all around the country, often illegally,” said Mike, operator of Howling Woods, as Kotori and Samson, two of the farm’s wolf dogs, played around. “The breeders sell them to people that cannot take care of them. What happens is the people don’t want to keep them after a while, because they’re not house pets.”
Consequentially, according to Mike, the dogs are placed into animal shelters or people will contact the Howling Farm.
He said wolves aren’t always as dangerous as their reputations. “Wolves were made out to be villains because ranchers in the United States wanted to exterminate them for years. They’re actually afraid of people. They tend to be more fearful.”
Motioning to his dogs, he added, “At least here, they’re used to people, so they’re fine.”
Determined pooch
One dog’s story of endurance was also featured the expo. Gilbert the pit bull has a rare, eight centimeter nephroblastoma tumor on his spine that not only makes it inoperable, with his hind legs paralyzed, but may well kill him by this fall.
Owner Caroline Blose brought Gilbert to the expo from Pennsylvania and is keeping him in permanent hospice care. Gilbert was at the event as a nominee for the Foster Story of the Year award. According to Blose, he was found dragging his hind legs as a stray in Georgia, and was set to be euthanized before someone found and brought him to Pennsylvania, where Blose adopted him last October. Though his condition is terminal, Blose is having Gilbert undergo holistic cold laser treatments—donated for free by a veterinary hospital—and has him on a raw food diet to build up his immune system. “We’re expecting a miracle,” Blose said. “I’ve called all over the United States, to different doctors.”
Olate Dogs
As the first day drew to a close, the Olate Dogs, winners of Season 7 of “America’s Got Talent,” took the main stage. They performed tricks such as riding scooters, hopping over metal obstacles, and even backflipping.
Nick Olate, who helps train the dogs, said that his father began training dogs to perform as a youth in Chile.
“He started out training them when he was a kid,” Olate said after the performance. “He came from a very poor family, and in Chile, there’s a lot of stray dogs off the streets, so he got a dog off the street and developed his own method.”
That method, according to Nick, is “a lot of positive reinforcement and a lot of patience, so he always works and works and hugs and kisses them and gets them excited, and eventually the dog catches on and they go from there.”
He wasn’t willing to share how his father taught the dogs to flip.
“That is his secret!” Nick said.
Hannington Dia can be reached at hd@hudsonreporter.com
