What kind of skills should we teach our service dog?

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so we are in the process of getting a service dog for our Aspie son (he is . He struggles greatly with meltdowns and anxiety. I was wondering what skills specifically we should ask the handlers to teach our dog that would help him? Does anyone have experience with this and what has helped them in a meltdown or panic attack?

Kat

- First the dog needs to learn basic obedience.

- Then the therapy stuff. The dog should be trained to snuggle close to your child, and if your son is sitting down, to put it's head on his lap or shoulder, and stuff like that. A professional trainer will be able to help with more stuff the dog needs to know.

I do have one concern though. If your son is in the habit of striking out or throwing things during his meltdowns, then I don't recommend getting a service dog, as your son would probably include the dog among his targets. Not on purpose, of course, but when we are in meltdowns we are not thinking too rationally. You have a responsibility to any service dog, to not bring them into service with your son if he does have a tendency to get violent during his meltdowns. If that is the case it would be better to take him to a quiet place to let him calm down. I would also suggest keeping a blanket handy for him to hug, perhaps even a weighted blanket.

I also suggest eliminating caffeine and reducing processed sugars from your son's diet as much as possible. These tend to make even NT kids more likely to act up. They are stimulants, and make kids hyper, which then makes the kids tired and cranky.

And make sure your boy gets enough sleep too, as being tired adds to crankiness.

Also, have your son get plenty of exercise, as this will help burn off excess energy.

Hope this helps.

Does you child like to be physically comforted or does he get angrier if you touch him?
Most therapy dogs can be taught to snuggle with the child when he or she is having a meltdown or just to lie next to them and that comforts them. Depends on what you son would respond to the best.

he is definitely a "deep pressure" kid. A weighted blanket or I have even laid on top of him in really bad meltdowns and it helps a great deal. It would be great to teach a dog to do this.

Thankfully, he does not get violent so I think he could really respond to this.

The trainers should be able to teach your dog to do that for your son. Here in France we get service dogs for free but there is a waiting list. We are going to see them in June. For the time being my daughter is very comfortable with my Bichon cross breed and he is well trained. We have started tethering him to her when she is open to it, in the house and my husband will take her out on walks with her tethered to Nico and my husband will put another lead for him to hold onto. We are also getting her a treat pack to wear around her waist so she will be very important to him because he know she has the treats. He already responds to her when she is crying and he will lick her face but she doesnt like that so we are trying to teach him just to lay beside her. We are going to put him in her bed so she feels more secure there. He typically sleeps in a crate but im going to attach him to the end of her bed on his harness so he can sleep at the foot of her bed and jump down if he wants but he cant run off and cant get in her face....that way its up to her if she wants to pet him or snuggle with him.

We can not get him certified but there are a lot of stores and outdoor cafe's that allow to you have your dog. She will mainly need him at home as I would not trust him with other kids. My daughter is gentle and Im afraid he might nip at another kid if they hit him or something like that. She has more meltdowns at home even though her anxiety builds up at school. Next year she will be going to the autism school and my son goes there now (he has aspergers and was having a lot of problems at the public school) so we hope that she does better. We still want to get the dog just in case we are unable to get her in the autism school....which is crazy because she is the one with classic autism, its mainly due to her academic level, its higher than my son even though she is more affected and younger. So If I have a professional dog she can take him to school. We will see how she reacts to the dogs there in June.

I also need a service dog due to my diseases. They will have to have a large boned dog for me (they are all labs and goldens) because I can walk sometimes but I need something to grab onto if I tip over which I tend to do....a bit like a drunk person thanks to my nerve damage. I was thinking if I keep my wheel chair on one side and the dog on the other Ill be ok. I think one service dog is ok for my kids, plus we have Nico and maybe later one one for me....I dont know what is best....getting them together or one at a time.