The Mighty Texas Dog Walk is one of the fundraising events the Texas Hearing and Service Dogs (THSD) organization uses to help to support their training of hearing and service dogs. The three mile course walk started and ended on the Ann Richards Congress Avenue Bridge looping back at Austin High School. Each registered dog walker received a Mauro Garza designed t-shirt and their dog receives a gold-colored medal when it crosses the finish line.
For eleven years now THSD has held this event to support their training of the dogs and the owners they will eventually assist. Another goal was to bring the Guinness World Record for “Largest Dog Walk” back to Texas for the third time. The record is now held by England with 10,272 dogs. This year over 8,333 dogs crossed the finish line here in Austin.
Texas Hearing and Service Dogs trains dogs to assist Texans living with hearing or mobility challenges. We adopt every dog in our program from an animal shelter, rescue group or occasional owner release. We invest $17,500 and one year to train each Hearing or Service Dog team (dog and person). Thanks to your donations, we provide the dogs and training free of charge.
Hearing Dogs alert their deaf partners by touch and lead them to a variety of important everyday sounds, including a knock at the door, a smoke alarm, an alarm clock and a baby's cry. They respond to oral and sign language commands.
Service Dogs assist physically challenged individuals by opening doors and refrigerators, fetching out of reach wheelchairs, retrieving dropped items, turning lights on and off, getting help and moving paralyzed limbs. They also perform customized tasks such as assistance with clothing and specialized equipment.
We also train Service Dogs to assist persons with balance while walking, e.g. people who have had polio, strokes or Parkinson's.
Hearing and Service Dogs also provide emotional and social benefits through companionship and encouragement of greater interaction from others
Texas Hearing and Service Dogs trains dogs to assist Texans living with hearing or mobility challenges. Thanks to your donations, we provide the dogs and training free of charge.
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