Conversations with Allison Holloway

Today we’d like to introduce you to Allison Holloway. 

Allison, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I’ve been involved in rescue and dog training all of my adult life. After years of helping other rescues, I served as Executive Director of a humane society for 6 years before establishing my own rescue, Pawsavers. I started training professionally when I purchased my first dog right out of college, and now I own an agility and dog sports facility near downtown on South High Street. 

My great purpose in my life, working with special needs dogs, started about ten years ago when a friend of mine decided to adopt a blind and deaf Australian Shepherd. She asked me to help train her, and I’m ashamed to admit that my first thought was that this poor dog should be euthanized. I just couldn’t grasp how a dog living in darkness and silence could be happy. Then I met Dahlia. My friend’s dog was happy and sweet and had the most magical energy. I adored her, and we started learning to communicate. It was fascinating to me to try and figure out how to teach her things. We started working with touch signals for basic things, and she was so smart and learned so quickly, it was amazing. I admit I was a bit obsessed with her. Finally, I decided I should get my own deaf and blind Australian Shepherd, so I found and adopted Lottie Moon. Lottie was brave and happy and stubborn and just as smart as Dahlia. We started training and she excelled. Lottie learned basic obedience, then she learned to trust me enough to go over jumps when I asked, and climb A-frames and teeter-totters when I asked. I had a blind and deaf agility dog. Lottie became the first blind and deaf dog to earn a Dog Scouts of America title. She earned badges for not only agility and obedience, but also for hiking and boating, and swimming. 

Shortly after I added Lottie to my life, my friend with Dahlia decided to start a rescue for double merle dogs. Double merles are dogs who inherit a merle gene from each parent. This causes a beautiful white coat but also causes deafness and severe vision issues, so it is unethical to breed two merle-colored dogs. The rescue was called Speak for the Unspoken, and we became a hit with all of the beautiful and amazing white dogs with special needs. I opened my training facility, Sky Dogs, shortly after, and we partnered with Speak to offer training for our foster dogs and also to others who had special needs pups. We had classes specifically for deaf and blind dogs, and we welcome deaf and blind dogs to any of our classes, including sport class like agility. When my friend moved out of state and ownership of the rescue changed, I decided to continue to rescue double merle dogs with my own rescue, and Pawsavers was born. It has been six years now, and we have found homes for well over 200 dogs, and have a sanctuary on our farm for over 30 blind and deaf dogs. In 2018, Pawsavers partnered with Keller’s Cause, another rescue for double merle dogs, and put on the Special K9 Games. This is a two-day event that has workshops for families with special needs dogs, and then a friendly competition the second day. We had about 20 teams from all over the country attend our first year, and it was wonderful to see people amazed at how capable their dogs could be. We had to suspend the Games during COVID, but we are back this year in October for the 3rd Annual Special K9 Games, and I’m so looking forward to it. 

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Although the world of rescue is always filled with challenges, I have dealt with surprisingly few, especially considering I am working with special needs pups. Although our dogs deal with birth defects to their eyes and ears, they are mostly healthy otherwise, so we don’t have to struggle through heart-wrenching and costly illnesses. Our girl Penelope was a paralyzed border collie, and she had a cart that allowed her to fly around the farm and herd ducks and chase balls and Frisbees. She, along with our double merles, was an incredible PR dog for Pawsavers, and she visited so many schools and adult homes and girl scouts and 4-H clubs and churches. Wheelchair dogs, however, do struggle with medical issues, and losing her after only 3 years together was a challenge I still struggle through today. We rescue and rehome herding breeds, so they are high-energy dogs that are still high-energy even if they are deaf and/or blind, and sometimes the folks who are interested in adopting don’t realize that. It’s all part of our education, that these dogs don’t know they are special needs, and they are still herding dogs that can do anything “normal” dogs can do! There is a potential problem with these dogs because they can develop OCD issues, such as fly-snapping, pattern running and pouncing, or shadow-chasing. Mostly these behaviors will become less as they mature as long as they are interrupted and redirected, but sometimes the OCD becomes a real issue and medical intervention is needed. Thankfully, although not uncommon, it is a small number of dogs that develop real issues. 

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I wear a lot of hats. My profession, and my income, is from a federal career as a buyer, But I’m also a small business owner with Sky Dogs, my training facility, and also Pawsavers. My joy as a trainer comes mostly from working with beginners — I enjoy showing people just how capable their dogs are. My goal is to enhance the bond between the human and the dog because so many people don’t realize how amazing their dog can be. That’s also my goal with the Special K9 Games. 

So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
My love for my dogs is my life. They mean everything to me. I enjoy doing so many things with them, and I’m always up to try something new. I want others to experience that same joy with their dogs, and that’s why I do what I do. 

Contact Info:

• Email: Pawsaversrescue@gmail.com
• Website: Pawsavers-rescue.com
• Instagram: @blind_and_brave
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PawsaversRescue/

Image Credits
Ruthanne Hanion
Rose Adler