Marci Train and her husband are in the final stages of an ambitious project to raise funds for a new dog agility program that she hopes will improve the lives of dogs with Down syndrome.
Marci Train, founder and president of the American Down Syndrome Society, said that a year ago she and her team decided to create a program to train dogs for agility and other sports.
Now they have raised more than $1 million for the program.
“It’s a big deal for us to be able to fund this program, to be funded, to have the money to hire a trainer,” Train said.
“It’s like we’ve got the money.
It’s our life’s work.””
This is a huge project for us.
It was a dream that we had,” said Marci’s husband, Marc Train.
“We’ve never really had a dog do anything that we thought they could do, but it’s our dream to have a dog that can do things that we don’t think dogs can do.”
Marc Train said that his wife, who has Down syndrome, has worked hard to find ways to raise money to pay for the training.
“I think the hardest part for us was finding money for a dog trainer.
It wasn’t until we started this project that we started getting some of the money that we needed to get this program going,” he said.
Marc Train’s wife is the founder and executive director of the ASPCA’s Down Syndrome Training Program.
Train said the program is an important part of their lives and the lives with the dog.
“We are the only family in our community that has two kids with Down Syndrome.
We are the sole breadwinners.
We have two dogs, and I would say most people would probably consider that a problem,” Train told ABC News.
Marci said that she and Marc Train have trained more than 1,000 dogs in their 20 years together.
She said that training for agility has become their hobby, but that their dog, the boxer, has always been a bit of a problem.
“It just wasn’t something that we could do,” she said.
Train and Marc said that they have been fortunate to work with many dog owners who are open to having a dog as an agility competitor.
Train said that many of them are also dogs who are very talented in other areas, such as obedience and agility.
“People with Down’s syndrome, they are very smart.
They can be very creative.
They have very good working memory.
They are very creative,” Train explained.”
When they’re doing the sport, they have a lot of flexibility in their hand movements.
They do agility very well.
They don’t have that much work with their arms.
They’ve got really good timing, very good agility, and very good balance,” Train continued.”
And we’re talking about the dog with Down,” she added.
Marc Train is hoping that the new program will be a game changer for other dog owners and dog owners in general.
“Our dog is a dog who has such a strong sense of balance, and it’s been so difficult to train her in any way that she’s been able to learn how to do that.
It has been really hard for her to get her balance back,” Train remarked.
Train said she hopes that the program will help those who are currently working with their dogs to have their dogs trained in a manner that is safe and appropriate for the breed.
“There’s a lot more that can be done in terms of training the dog,” Train concluded.
ABC News’ Jessica Rinaldi contributed to this report.