A crowd watched as Marla Smith carefully steered her Rottweiler Kuno to move away from the tempting tin of food sitting on the ground of an obstacle course at the Alberta Kennel Club Summer Classic dog show in Okotoks, Alta. 

She commanded him through the series of tasks with words and gestures. When Kuno spun, Smith spun in her power wheelchair beside him, when he jumped over the wooden hurdle he cleared it with ease, and when he succeeded in a task she told him, "Good boy!"

In this event called…