Dog to help with anxiety and confidence

maybe something on dogs... I love dogs, although I'd still consider myself more a cat person. I'd also think if your family generally likes dogs and everybody is on board that's a good idea.

I think there are a few considerations you should make before having a look at dogs. Like the size (roughly) - you want one that's big enough to be reasonably robust, but small enough for your child to be able to hold it soon without being pulled over and generally not huge compared to your child. Sure, you are not going to sent him walking the dog on his own for some time, but together with you and it is great to be in charge (as a child being in charge of the dog, I mean). So I would find the usual service dogs perhaps a bit on the large side and would probably be more comfortable with a dog the size of a spaniel or so. What kind of fur - just cleaning-wise for the moment, you have less work with dogs with short fur. Maybe also life expectancy - that differs a lot and is quite short for some (there's info on the internet about this). Purebred dogs are more likely to have a short life expectancy (of course something can happen to any dog, but some breeds frequently suffer from problems and diseases that are much less common in others). The age is an important one too - not too old obviously, for several reasons, but perhaps also not a puppy because it's harder to see their character and so on than in a maybe two year old dog which has also learned a thing or two from and about people already (hopefully positive things) and won't grow anymore. There may be a couple of other things to decide about before looking for a dog, maybe others can think of more.

Then next, has your son met other people's dogs and spent some time with them? If not that would probably be a good idea. It would help to  make him get used to this because if he reacts very shy with dogs that could potentially become your new family member it will be hard to decide whether they fit or not, or if he is too friendly with them too quickly or incredibly excited some dog could react in a way that would scare your son. The dogs size may also play a role how comfortable he feels with dogs.

Then the best is probably to keep your mind relatively open and go together and see. Let them spend some time together so you can see whether the dog trusts people generally and especially children, ask if it has problems that may not be apparent when you see it (like fear of something you will encounter a lot, being very keen on chasing cats, can't be left alone at all...). See how your son reacts (that may take quite some time, hopefully you won't feel rushed and can visit it several times). Is it a dog that likes lots of people (so is excited about seeing new ones) - that's good for low confidence because it helps with interacting with other people. Does it like playing? Is the dog very dominant (not ideal with little children)? Is the dog quite forgiving? You can make a bit of loud noise to scare it (very little), then be reasuring - does it come back and continue as before or is it unsure for a long time or does it react aggressively? Such things happen with kids all the time, so an ideal dog for them doesn't make a big deal about this. The good thing is, dogs are a bit like autistic people when it comes to how they feel. They can't fake it. If they are afraid you'll see it, if they can't stand noise and being handled a bit rough, you'll see it - they don't playact to get a new home. The other good thing is that for a dog children are quite different things anyway, if they are autistic or not doesn't make too much of a difference, so a dog that's good with kids is likely to be good with your son too.

Hope you find the right buddy, but don't rush it, see it as a learning process where you all find out things about dogs, each other and yourselves!

maybe something on dogs... I love dogs, although I'd still consider myself more a cat person. I'd also think if your family generally likes dogs and everybody is on board that's a good idea.

I think there are a few considerations you should make before having a look at dogs. Like the size (roughly) - you want one that's big enough to be reasonably robust, but small enough for your child to be able to hold it soon without being pulled over and generally not huge compared to your child. Sure, you are not going to sent him walking the dog on his own for some time, but together with you and it is great to be in charge (as a child being in charge of the dog, I mean). So I would find the usual service dogs perhaps a bit on the large side and would probably be more comfortable with a dog the size of a spaniel or so. What kind of fur - just cleaning-wise for the moment, you have less work with dogs with short fur. Maybe also life expectancy - that differs a lot and is quite short for some (there's info on the internet about this). Purebred dogs are more likely to have a short life expectancy (of course something can happen to any dog, but some breeds frequently suffer from problems and diseases that are much less common in others). The age is an important one too - not too old obviously, for several reasons, but perhaps also not a puppy because it's harder to see their character and so on than in a maybe two year old dog which has also learned a thing or two from and about people already (hopefully positive things) and won't grow anymore. There may be a couple of other things to decide about before looking for a dog, maybe others can think of more.

Then next, has your son met other people's dogs and spent some time with them? If not that would probably be a good idea. It would help to  make him get used to this because if he reacts very shy with dogs that could potentially become your new family member it will be hard to decide whether they fit or not, or if he is too friendly with them too quickly or incredibly excited some dog could react in a way that would scare your son. The dogs size may also play a role how comfortable he feels with dogs.

Then the best is probably to keep your mind relatively open and go together and see. Let them spend some time together so you can see whether the dog trusts people generally and especially children, ask if it has problems that may not be apparent when you see it (like fear of something you will encounter a lot, being very keen on chasing cats, can't be left alone at all...). See how your son reacts (that may take quite some time, hopefully you won't feel rushed and can visit it several times). Is it a dog that likes lots of people (so is excited about seeing new ones) - that's good for low confidence because it helps with interacting with other people. Does it like playing? Is the dog very dominant (not ideal with little children)? Is the dog quite forgiving? You can make a bit of loud noise to scare it (very little), then be reasuring - does it come back and continue as before or is it unsure for a long time or does it react aggressively? Such things happen with kids all the time, so an ideal dog for them doesn't make a big deal about this. The good thing is, dogs are a bit like autistic people when it comes to how they feel. They can't fake it. If they are afraid you'll see it, if they can't stand noise and being handled a bit rough, you'll see it - they don't playact to get a new home. The other good thing is that for a dog children are quite different things anyway, if they are autistic or not doesn't make too much of a difference, so a dog that's good with kids is likely to be good with your son too.

Hope you find the right buddy, but don't rush it, see it as a learning process where you all find out things about dogs, each other and yourselves!

Brilliant advice. My son adores dogs but as you said we need the right breed. Spaniels are definitely worth a look. We need to take this process slowly which is why I'm researching a lot but hopefully will be good in the long run