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Anyone found a dog helps?

hibbsy

Hi there,

Just wondered if anyone out there could give us any advice about getting a dog, and whether it had a positive impact on their autistic child? We have two children, a 7yr girl who is not autistic, and an 11yr old son who was diagnosed a couple of months ago with Autism. He also has dyslexia, speech and language problems and severe anxiety disorder which has resulted in him having a breakdown.

We have been advised that a dog could have a positive impact on our son and help him with his many melt downs and severe anxiety issues. We are currently having meetings with PAWS - Parents Autism Workshops which train dogs as therapy dogs and could teach us how to raise a puppy, and then train it for our son's specific needs. It does sound very good but we need to be sure, and know of the pro's and con's involved....and what type of dog?!

Anyone out there that could give us any advise at all, we would really appreciate it.

Thankyou

Parents

  • My daughter is 15 and has Aspergers, we got a dog to help her and he's helped a lot. He's a Golden Retriever and is just over a year old now. When he first came home my daughter rejected him, even though she'd been excited about him coming home and was a full part of his homecoming and preparation she still had a meltdown over him and wanted to get rid of him within the first 24hours. But we got through that and now she loves him to bits. If she's had a rough day at school she'll come home, give him a cuddle and everything is okay again. Before we had him she had literally shut herself away in her room and wouldn't have any contact with anyone, but by having Harley he gave her a reason to get out and about again. She started walking him, just to the end of the road to begin with, and gradually got further as her confidence  grew. Now she'll go out with friends again, even without Harley.
    Harley gave her something to talk to her friends about, he broke the ice and gave her something to focus on other than her Aspergers.

    I'm not saying its been easy because it hasn't. Having had him from a puppy its been hard work training him, and trying to get my daughter to understand why he doesn't understand things etc but its gotten easier as time goes on.
    Having worked with dogs for many years I would say a Golden Retriever or a Spaniel of some kind would be an ideal breed for this. Labradors are very intelligent but can be a bit bonkers (I had one for 12years and wouldn't have another one) however if its being trained specifially for your son's needs then it should be fine.
    Golden Retrievers are a lot more paitent than Labs, hence why we got a Retriever this time around. But our dog has certainly helped our daughter, and regardless of the mud, slobber, dirty and muck he brings in with him, hes been worth his weight in gold.

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  • My daughter is 15 and has Aspergers, we got a dog to help her and he's helped a lot. He's a Golden Retriever and is just over a year old now. When he first came home my daughter rejected him, even though she'd been excited about him coming home and was a full part of his homecoming and preparation she still had a meltdown over him and wanted to get rid of him within the first 24hours. But we got through that and now she loves him to bits. If she's had a rough day at school she'll come home, give him a cuddle and everything is okay again. Before we had him she had literally shut herself away in her room and wouldn't have any contact with anyone, but by having Harley he gave her a reason to get out and about again. She started walking him, just to the end of the road to begin with, and gradually got further as her confidence  grew. Now she'll go out with friends again, even without Harley.
    Harley gave her something to talk to her friends about, he broke the ice and gave her something to focus on other than her Aspergers.

    I'm not saying its been easy because it hasn't. Having had him from a puppy its been hard work training him, and trying to get my daughter to understand why he doesn't understand things etc but its gotten easier as time goes on.
    Having worked with dogs for many years I would say a Golden Retriever or a Spaniel of some kind would be an ideal breed for this. Labradors are very intelligent but can be a bit bonkers (I had one for 12years and wouldn't have another one) however if its being trained specifially for your son's needs then it should be fine.
    Golden Retrievers are a lot more paitent than Labs, hence why we got a Retriever this time around. But our dog has certainly helped our daughter, and regardless of the mud, slobber, dirty and muck he brings in with him, hes been worth his weight in gold.

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