Service Dogs

[Innisfree]

If you're evaluating the merits of different breeds for your situation, a great book to check out is The Right Dog for You, by Daniel Tortora.

 

It was written in the eighties, so his lists of the most popular dogs are out of date, but he provides a very detailed explanation of typical breed temperaments and characteristics. He distinguishes between things like a dog's problem-solving ability and the dog's likelihood of actual obedience, for example, when discussing intelligence and trainability.

 

I've found it a very useful book to review when we're selecting a new dog.

 

ETA: He also gives information about emotional stability of different breeds, which I think is particularly pertinent when the emotional stability of our kids might not be the greatest. ;-)

Edited January 29, 2016 by Innisfree

[Guest]

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Edited February 10, 2016 by Guest

[Innisfree]

Those are both on my reading list. I'll be interested in what you think of them.

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[Innisfree]

You know, I've actually seen two former service dogs available through a rescue group and a shelter here within the last few months. In one case the owner had died, in the other health issues had worsened and they had to get rid of the dog. One of the dogs was a golden, I think. Of course those dogs have been adopted, but it's worth watching the rescues and Petfinder. I know you'd like a puppy, but a trained, proven adult dog would be worth a lot.

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[Pen]

Pen, I called it a tackle because, while hugging the dog, he would sometimes try to force him to lie down in order to hug him lying down. It was why I monitored him constantly to teach him that hugging a dog while lying down (which is what I did with our Dane), was not the same as forcing him to lie down when he didn't want to.

 

Your comments about Labs vs. Goldens is definitely something I will be looking into! I have never owned a Golden or mix and I don't have personal experience, so thank you for letting me know :)

 

 

I've had both breeds and love both! 

Either can be a fantastic dog, but they are typically different in  sensitivity level IME, just as they are typically different in their fur.

 

Let me mention one other breed to consider as you are researching this: Flat Coated Retriever. 

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[Pen]

I don't think Flatties are as gorgeous as a beautiful Golden is, but if it is the feel of longer fur you want, then they have that, and they are good looking dogs, IMO--and maybe would be helpful to an ASD child as a conversation starter along the lines of "What type of dog is that?"  I dunno. We get a lot of "what type of dog is that?" with our Labramatian, unless people just assume him to be pure Lab.  If I had one available when we next are ready for a dog, which is coming as I want another before our current one gets old, I'd go for a Flattie over either a Golden or a Lab, though it would be the first I would own rather than just meeting them. But I think they are hard to find.

 

 

I think most of our dogs have seen themselves as another kid (they know they are dogs when playing with other dogs or barking at ones that go by, but otherwise they seem to be "kids" too), and / or ds sees them as his brother, sister or other relative.  I think that is probably pretty common even with NT dogs and children.

 

This reminds me of a time prior to having a child when I was visiting a friend who was a mom, and who had several others all moms over too. At one point all the moms had a little one on their laps except for childless me. My Rottweiler looked around at this and promptly hopped on up on my lap where she sat person style with her rear on my lap, back legs stretched toward my knees and her front paws up in the air just like all the "other" kids she saw.

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[Pen]

I'm not dealing with ASD, but am dealing with other things like PTSD and other things, and mine is an only in the country so dog tends to be best friend and brother. It is really hard when they die. Especially hard if a dog is not old, grey, and in obvious decline. My son has not had a situation where an only dog has died, and from my own experience that is even worse. Right now our dog is an only and I want to get a following along dog before too long, but not so close that they are both getting to be seniors at same time. We had a younger dog die before an older one though, so this does not always work. Even chick and hen deaths have been hard, though not as bad as dog deaths. So far cat deaths have not been traumatic.

 

A Dane on lap would be even funnier than my Rott!

 

Our Labramatian is black (or black spots on black background  :) )

 

 

I'd have our Labramatian's  picture as my avatar if I knew how to do all that, but for now it is beyond me.  I tried to do a link but got error message.

 

He looks basically like a field bred (for hunting) American black Lab, and if you like the Flattie look you may like this look better than the usual stock, blocky Lab. I'll see if I can find a link.

[Pen]

So, not just to show off more or less what our dog looks like, but because if you like the Flattie look you may also like the field bred American Lab look, our Labramatian looks a lot (at first glance) like an American field bred black Labrador as in the picture at post #4 of this forum http://www.prodoggroomingsupplies.com/dog-forums/showthread.php?t=73204  and I tried to direct link the pic, but I got an error message. His face is not quite as long and has a permanently slightly puppy look. And his eyes are a bit bigger, darker and more soulful looking...but probably if I told someone this was my dog they'd not be able to discern the differences.

 

He is 65 pounds (about middle of the Lab range), and 24" tall (almost at the top for height), and has more Dal looking legs, hips and chest (in shape--he is solid black in color), so even compared to a field bred Lab, he is even more lithe, agile, jaunty looking: built to run and jump, not to swim. He tends to be remarked on as "beautiful" rather than handsome or cute. When I say he is sized down from a typical Lab, it is largely because a lot of Labs are over the breed standards, our Labramatian is within for size, but has a more slim, svelte look--perhaps in part because he does not have the undercoat fluffing him out to look bigger than he really is. He is roughly same weight and taller than my sister's pure Lab, but looks and seems and moves like a smaller, lighter dog. Also he carries his slimmer furred (not "otter") tail in an upward curve which looks jaunty.

 

The ruff area fur is long enough to put one's fingers through.

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[Pen]

 

If you have a PC, go to the file with you pics and right click the picture you want. From the drop-down list that appears select "Open With", then select "Paint". When the image appears in "Paint", click on "Image" at the top and select "stretch/ skew" from the drop-down list. Put the percentage you want to shrink it at and then press "Save As" to re-save the shrunk image. Name it so that you can find it easily. You can attach any size image in your signature. For an avatar however, it has to be no larger than 50KB (from what I remember when I changed mine recently). You can check that if you right click the image in your image file and then select properties. Try that and let me know if it works for you :) .

 

 

 

Thanks!!!

I'm on a Mac right now, but do have a PC. I'll try that when I am on it, maybe later this week, when I take ds to library and have some time to fiddle with it while he does his library studying. It would be cool to be able to do that! Actually, if I give him your instructions, he'll probably be able to show me faster than I can figure it out :)  

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Edited February 10, 2016 by Guest

[mamashell]

Just wondering if anyone has looked into service dogs or if anyone has them? This is something that keeps nagging at me. I have looked at a few sites online and they seem pricey and hard to qualify for.

 

Any advice or places to look for more info? 

 

nt

Edited February 10, 2016 by eligo esse felicem

[fourcatmom]

Fourcatmom, I stumbled across this one and I am linking it for you.

 

https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=intent://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3Dqe87cNLQCqA%23Intent%3Bscheme%3Dhttp%3Bpackage%3Dcom.google.android.youtube%3BS.browser_fallback_url%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.youtube.com%252Fwatch%253Fv%253Dqe87cNLQCqA%3BS.android.intent.extra.REFERRER_NAME%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.google.ca%3Bend&ved=0ahUKEwiTioSYotDKAhUX9GMKHZPVDsQQjjgIGzAA&usg=AFQjCNFJ4dcWibtJArPdQE67onMfGb1NGA&sig2=A-ARdl4S1x_7xbXfwTgOlw

 

I found so many moving stories on You Tube!

 

I can't open this link. Can you PM it to me? Thanks!

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Edited February 10, 2016 by Guest

[Mrs. Tharp]

We purchased a Lab two years ago to train as a service dog for our oldest son. We paid $1,500 for the dog and purchased from a breeder who has two children on the autism spectrum. She had trained several dogs specifically as autism service dogs and part of the agreement was for her help with training. Because of her kids, her standards were extremely high for temperament--much higher than many other lab breeders in the area (Pacific Northwest). Her comment was, "Every breeder will tell you that they select for temperament. They don't." She only knew one other breeder (who also had a child on the spectrum) who actually culled dogs from their program over temperament issues. My suggestion to anyone who is thinking of getting a service dog is start asking around among breeders if they know anyone who specializes or who has has personal experience with the issues you are buying the dog to address, and to be as specific as possible when you are discussing what you would like the dog to do.

 

In our case, we realized that we did not need her to function as a full service dog, but mainly as a therapy dog, which she currently does very well. She was absolutely worth the high price we paid. The breeder was a huge part of the package as well. 

[Lecka]

http://www.pbs.org/video/2164360748/

 

I am watching a PBS documentary, it has a short section about a family that gets a therapy dog.  It is at 29 minutes. It is a beautiful dog!