KEYSTONE HEIGHTS – Just before Cassie Pardee enters the competition ring of an American Kennel Club event, her mother plays her favorite song, “The Champion,” by Carrie Underwood.
The two briefly immerse themselves in the words and moment, turning off the noisy clutter of bright lights, noise and pressure.
Then bravely and determined, young Cassie pushes herself into a world that once was an abyss of terror and trepidation.
Diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder when she was 6, the 15-year-old eighth grader at Keystone Heights Junior High is learning to distract her fears by focusing on her English Setter, Carly, at AKC competitions.
Her dog creates comfort and confidence, something only a few with ASD can realize.
“I just pretend I’m not in the ring,” Cassie said. “I pretend I’m home or somewhere where it’s not as stressful as being in the ring when I have anxiety. The dogs help me a lot to calm down.”
ASD is a neurodevelopment disability that challenges her senses. It affects how she communicates, reacts to bright lights and noise, self-regulates and functions in social settings.
“I also have trouble sleeping at night,” she said.
Cassie asked for her first dog, Stewart, for her seventh birthday. She believed a dog would “help her be brave,” her mother, Sandy Pardee, said.
Carly has become her voice.
“Dogs don’t judge you; they just love you,” Cassie said.
Her grandmother, Kay Monaghan, bred and showed English Setters for more than 50 years. She gave Cassie a puppy, and in 2018 they became Team C.C. – Cassie and Carly. The showring has become therapeutic for both, mom said.
“The dogs have the ability to sense her anxiety, so they will lean on her. She makes a really interesting connection with the particular animals she works with,” Sandy said.
Cassie is responsible for grooming her dogs, which recently included another puppy, Lena, from her grandmother, as well as working with a trainer to refine both of their skills. The AKC circuit put most of its shows on pause during the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead of being afraid of the bright lights and large crowds, Cassie is laser-focused on her work with Carly in the confirmation portion of the competition.
“She hasn’t been able to work as much with them this year because all of the shows have been canceled,” Sandy said. “Last year and the year before, we were on a very heavy show schedule. She would go to her trainers at least once a week. She would bathe and groom and try to enhance her skills as far as what she has to do in the ring – pacing the dog, making sure the dog stacks properly and refining their skills as a team.
“Once a week she would be at her trainers and we would leave on a Thursday and be gone for a long weekend. The entire weekend, she would care for the dog, manage the dog, sleep with the dog in the hotel room and then be on site at the location where we were showing them. That was her responsibility to care and handle the dog.”
“I really want to start working with the dogs again,” Cassie said. “Yes, it’s been stressful. I still want to do it because I feel like it’s a way for me to get over my really bad anxiety attracts when I have them. It’s part of my therapy.”
Monaghan recently gave Cassie another dog, Lena. Sandy and Cassie limit their time with Monaghan because of the virus.
“COVID has caused us an issue is grandma’s dog. She lives across the lake from us,” Sandy said. “We want to protect grandma from getting COVID because Cass is a high school student and goes to a brick-and-mortar school [Keystone Heights]. We’re trying to limit their interaction because the last thing we want to do is make grandma sick. Right now, she has a new dog, a yellow Lab, and she’s a puppy who she works with every day after school. She walks her and is training her to do more different kinds of things in the show ring like agility, diver dog – some of the other things the other competitions that are available to her.”
Cassie competed in the conformation ring, where dogs are judged against each other.
“They have to get a certain number of points and a certain amount of what they call ‘a major’ to champion,” Sandy said. “That was her goal was to champion Carly when she started. She championed Carly very quickly. Within a year, she got her championship and she finished her at the biggest show in Florida, which was the AKC Nationals in Orlando, which was a tremendously huge win.
“Now she’s showing in juniors where the judges judge the handler more than they judge the dog. They judge how the handler was able to handle the dog and how the handler is able to follow the judges’ instruction and how they get the dog to do what the judges are telling them to do. Now it’s a competition against her peers, so it’s a different kind of competition, but it’s still in the confirmation area of the ring.”