Re: autism dog - a proper reply - long!

[Guest guest]

Oops just saw your post Mandi so here are my replies on list!!!

> Is there anyone on here with an autism dog?

Xylo is not an " autism dog " but was trained as a service dog for a physically

disabled person. He failed his training because he got too stressed in shopping

centres so was re-homed with us by Dogs for the Disabled, based in Banbury,

Oxfordshire.

DFTD run an autism service dog scheme but there is a waiting list, maximum age

of the child is 10, and the family needs to live within a 2hr drive of their

centres in Banbury or Weston super Mare.

For families whose children dont meet the above criteria they run annual

training causes for parents of children with autism who are thinking of getting

a dog. These are run over 3 separate days and there is no limit on how far away

the families live. We paid £50 in total for the training. On these workshops

we had some practical training with the service dogs but also looked at which

breeds would best suit our lifestyles, and brainstormed over how a dog would

help our childrens individual issues. One lady on the course already had a dog,

she said he helped her son alot socially as people meeting them would generally

ask the same questions - whats your dogs name, how old is he, etc so the boy

could answer appropriately, also gave him a sense of importance holding a split

lead, she said one time the boy was standing on a river bank, too close, she

shouted " get " (I forget his actual name) the dog nudged him away to

safety.

Maybe a coincidence of course but I think dogs become attached to their families

and want to protect them.

If you are interested on attending the next lot of workshops (and I would

definitely recommend them) the person to speak to at DFTD is Brewer.

Or is there anyone that

> knows much about them or knows anyone who has one?

We met a mum who was receiving her training with her service dog at the time of

her course and I still have her email address - I could ask if she'd be willing

to chat? Or DFTD might have someone you could contact?

> Is there anyone whose kid with autism has a dog that has any info to

> share whatsoever??<WBR>?

We got our dog just as Joe was starting his wobbly behaviour I posted about a

couple of months ago. This was unfortunate as it meant they got off on the wrong

foot, with Joe crying and lashing out alot of the time so the dog was quite wary

of him. It took a while for them to reach an understanding - what helped their

relationship is that Joe often leaves food lying around, Xylo cottoned on to

this and will shamelessly follow Joe around, look at him adoringly waiting for

him to drop something edible. Joe thinks this is funny. Xylo has learned to read

Joes mood and will only do this when Joe is calm. They will sit together and

Joe will pat Xylos head, so they are bonding in their own way.

? Do they play together?

Yes Joe will throw Xylos toys for him. We have had to teach Joe to play in this

way though and he doesnt do it for very long. We're working on it.

Has having the dog

> helped your child?

I think it will, long term. For now in all honesty it has helped the rest of

the family to have a lovely new pet who loves us unconditionally and is always

pleased to see us during what has been a difficult time for us. He has been my

ray of sunshine.

> If you know anything about dogs/ guide dogs? How do you instill the

> sense that they are 'looking after' your child rather than your child

> being the typical master of the dog?

I may have misunderstood but I think its important that you DONT do this - any

puppy training classes will teach you that the dog has to be last in the pecking

order and the same rules apply here. The family members are all the masters,

even the disabled child. If the dog thinks he is the one in charge you wont be

able to train him and he could be hard to control.

The looking after is something you can teach separately, but first you need to

work out what you want the dog to do. We learned several methods of training,

clickers, treats, If you want the dog to stop your child from running in to the

road for example you would make the dog walk on the outside and give him treats

(small bits of food) all the time for doing so, gradually phasing down the

treats. Dog training is alot like ABA.

Joe has learned how to feed Xylo, weighing out his food, putting it down for

him, telling him to sit and then blowing the whistle to signal he can eat it.

We have to be a bit careful to hide the rest of the food afterwards or he'd do

this all day long! I plan also to get Joe brushing Xylo, which I will then

transfer to getting Joe to brush his own hair. He has also learned other

commands Xylo understands, " leave it " being particularly popular as Xylo is a

bit sneaky and will try and chew Joes toys.

> I'm assuming a Labrador is the best breed of dog to get. Am I right?

Most of the dogs at DFTD were labs, but there were also some retrievers (like

Xylo), labradoodles, some spaniels, mainly labs though.

Some people on the course found breeders were very choosy who they sold puppies

to and the autism put them off. On the other hand you need to be very sure that

your dog will have a good temperment so you need to be scrupilous about the

breeder too. I think you can check them out with the kennel club. Most towns

have dog training classes which you would need to take a puppy to, if you find

out about the classes in your area you could maybe find out about reputable

breeders locally from there. Xylo comes from Wales incidentally so if you fancy

a retriever I could put you in touch with his breeder.

We chose a DFTD rehomed dog because they come already trained and are clearly

good natured (or if not they would tell you this before rehoming). As Joe is at

home full time and full on I didnt think I'd have the time to train a puppy in a

consistent way and its really important to do that. We did have to live within

50 miles of Banbury to qualify for a DFTD dog though but there may be other

service dog charities near you, worth googling definitely, we have hearing dogs

for the deaf near us too.

I think all the service dog charities work in similar ways, that they live with

a " socialiser " as a puppy who takes them to training classes, then they go off

to the kennels for their intensive training and are placed with a disabled

person or rehomed if they fail their training after that.

I hope this all makes sense! Did I miss anything? Happy to answer more questions

xx

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