Who here has an autistic assistance/therapy animal?

Hello kitty 09 said:

she’ll sit on my stomach to calm me down

My neighbour's cat was doing that to me I was feeding her sometimes, and then She would sneak into my flat and refused to leave, and I would give up eventually and sit down, then she would jump on my knees, or on my stomache if I was lying down.

greetings from the US cashews!

I have a emotional support animal. It’s a dog. Her name is Shimai which means sister in Japanese. She’s a Pomeranian chihuahua or pomchi. She helps me a lot. If I forget to take my meds she’ll remind me. Shimai will be in the bathroom when I shower or brush my teeth making sure my anxiety is in check. When I stim she’ll sit on my stomach to calm me down. I do take her with me to places. 

hi! I have an Autism Support Assistance Dog, she has just earned her  title of "fully trained" tasks wise, and has just turned two. She's absolutely amazing and when she's off work ie, ill or resting, i can definitely tell the difference. If you have an assistance dog then you want to make sure that if you have social anxiety it won't be heightened at the fact people will stare at you and you will come into complications at some point or another, especially if you have a non-stereotypical breed of dog like my dog. 

Oh no they where not indoor cars, but full bred strays that tent to stay on our farm, coming indoors only for a treat with a mouse's tail sticking out of their mouths as a proof that they earned their living

WOW 30 of them, sounds like heaven. Hopefully all went to the loo outdoors though! 

Your dog story reminds me I bought a sheep skin dog bed that accidentally matched the colour of my toy poodle far too well, so now I can't see if she's in it or not sometimes. 

haha they quite funny when they stay quiet

my friend had one that loved to pretend he is a carpet, he looked like a carpet well enough to fool everybody first time :)

but I love cats my first 7 years I spent in a house with 30 of them :) no stress ever, free coudles always

I love cats, but I don't have a garden anymore and I tried litter tray, I hated cleaning it out! 

Haha perfect, yes I find having my dog gets me up but not by sitting on my face! I just know she prob needs the toilet or something. 

Shitz tsu  dogs are the reverse.

You are there to assist them,,,,,, like,  NOW ! 

but they are worth it as a comedic companion in that will make u laugh.

mine got me out of bed everyday by sitting on my face. Nothing gets you up quicker.  

I wish I could have a cat  

me too but I can see why..

Yes I have been training my dog in as many ways that I think can help me, with the help of a professional trainer who works with dogs that he trains to find bombs in Somalia and has trained another to smell peanuts for another woman who is very allergic. From what I can see regarding therapy animals or even assistance animals, It's cheaper to be owner trained, there are support groups for this that I am a part of. 

I've heard that the dog has to want to do it/have the right temperament to do it and even many dogs bred for guide dog work end up "washing" (the term used for their failure at being guide dogs) and being re-homed, sometimes as therapy dogs. You just have to be happy with how the dog turns out, if not re-home and start again, that's not easy for most people I know. 

On average I think I've read that it costs around £20,000 to fully train a guide dog because the trainer has to work with them many hours a day, and have access to special training facilities like a fake kitchen, fake living room, fake zebra crossing etc all under one roof. I enquired with autistic support dog charity and they said they get about 8000 requests for a dog every year, and I think I recall them saying only 20 dogs per year pass training, so many fail. 

I was disappointed to find that even officially trained Emotional Support Dogs are not allowed everywhere like a guide dog for the blind is.

I think, from what I've read, it's pretty difficult to get one. There are a lot of restrictions, and it's quite costly. When you think of all the poor dogs that have no homes or have been mistreated, you would think there would be a national strategy to train these dogs and offer re-home them to autistic adults.