Dogs + ASD = ?

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Any thoughts regarding getting a dog?

I live in an environment suitable for another dog (existing animals extremely tolerant), however I dont know if its unrealistic or too hard for someone like me to provide a dog with what it needs - companionship, training etc. I dont have much to do with the existing dogs - the little one is light (I dont like light touch much) unresponsive to verbals (so unpredictable), the bigger one has a long coat that I dont handle well from a sensory point of view. However there are other dogs Ive met who I really like touching, hugging etc. Really im wanting a freind, something I can learn about loving and caring with, but I doubt my ability to give the dog what it needs in terms of communicating love/affection, interacting non-verbally, training etc. Any thoughts?

My thought is that dogs are extremely therapeutic for people on the spectrum but you have to be able to take care of the animal. The dog is a living creature that deserves a happy and fulfilling life. You need to educate yourself before you take on this serious responsibility. You need to also realize that dogs are expensive. They need shots, grooming, dog food, toys, and sometimes expensive veterinary treatment. The dogs also need to be walked at least twice a day for 30 minutes.

I don't know what your exact living situation is but if you have 2 dogs there already I would try training them just so you can get an idea of what having a dog is like. There are many good books on dog training and you can find videos on youtube. As far as affection you would be surprised at how well dogs can read humans. If you love them they know it.

Some aspies, cannot provide some dogs, with levels of socialisation needed by some dogs.
And some dogs are okay with it more than others....

I was watching this hunchback dude at the beach with a companion dog, a stumpy tail black labrador. I've seen him a few times and his dog doesn't look happy. I dont know what exactly but the dog has a mood disorder while the hunchback dude is fairly happy, social and well known.
I think the dog is excessive witness to hunchback dudes endless fluffing about... he never stops shuffling around fluffing beside his campervan, while grumpy dog watches from under a tree.... for hours everyday.... grumpy dog never runs and plays, just watches his master all day....acting like a confused fool....

I'm interested to know how [which] dogs and their owners [suitable] can be successfully matched, especially autistic companion dogs.

Last edited by Surfman on 15 Jan 2013, 5:52 am, edited 1 time in total.

my dog is the only reason I didn't kill myself last year, so yeah, I'd say "therapeutic" is an understatement.

having a dog is amazing but it can also mean helping to pin her to a table at the vet's office when she's so scared she bites you in a panic. it can mean watching her quiver and cry when she gets her nails clipped. it can mean having to give her insulin shots twice daily. for some breeds it can mean BARKING LIKE MAD CONTINUOUSLY. if you are noise sensitive this is a serious consideration and I would highly recommend against anything houndish or small and yappy if this is the case. ( iving with a beagle is like living with an opera star whose voice has seen better days.) it can mean more poop than you can possibly imagine, and will almost certainly mean someone pees AND vomits on your floor, eats the bottom-spine corner out of your hardbound book of Jacques Cousteau's collected photography, or somehow manages to eat an entire angelfood cake placed well away from the edge of the kitchen counter.

for me, tonight, it meant her nosing open my door before going back to her bed in the hallway so she could just look at me while she fell asleep. now I'm listening to her sigh while she dreams.

herding dogs are the most easily trained (my corgi has adapted to me effortlessly. I haven't put a minute of formal training time in and she responds to phrases I use in casual conversation because we are almost always together and she goes out of her way to please me. she is also entirely capable of asking and answering "either/or" questions about objects put in front of her with just her eyes.) my Labrador Retriever, on the other hand, went to obedience school and never got anything more than "sit" and "no" in her entire 15 year life, bless her goofy loving soul. (though I swear to god she could read your mind if you thought hard enough at her. I remember one time when she was around 12 I sat down, stared at her, and just thought about what it would be like to roll over - no words, just a package of sensations - which she had never done by herself in 12 years and had never before had anyone try to train her to do, and she slowly, deliberately, rolled over - staring into my eyes the whole time. damndest thing. to say your dog will be good at reading you is an understatement.)

when I worked at a kennel, retrievers would play constantly, hounds would bay constantly and miss their parents terribly, small companion breeds (aside from pugs, who are extremely chill in my experience) were insecure and yappy, terriers were insecure and bite-y (only dog that ever attacked me out of thousands of them was a crotchety old dachshund who went for my throat when I tried to take his leash off - for my coworker it was a jack russell who ended up dangling from her arm by his teeth), and sheep herding breeds would study me.

in my experience training a corgi and getting her to respond to verbal commands was complete cake, but I also spent nearly 24/7 with her for the better part of a year, shared a bed with her, let her lick my plates clean and shared my popcorn with her...everything. not to mention I was being taught to walk by an english springer spaniel who would hold my toddler's arm in gently her mouth, and have never gone more than a year in my life without a dog in the house, so "easy to train" from my perspective may not necessarily translate into someone who hasn't lived with and worked with dogs since before they could talk.

chihuahua's bark all the time and at night they stare with their black rat eyes'....the nightmares i have.

You're very wise to think about whether you can care for a dog before you get one. Believe it or not, some neurotypicals don't think about it, and their dogs end up badly behaved, lonely, and even unhealthy because of it.

The main question is--can you do the things that a dog needs? Not, can you do them the same way NTs do them, but simply whether you can care for the dog. For example, someone else could do some things for you, if you could get them to agree to do it, perhaps swapping tasks with you. How much do you know about caring for a dog? Find out--read some books, perhaps, or go and find a dog forum and ask the dog owners there. Make sure you can do each task as often as the dog needs you to do it, or find other ways to do them. If you can cover the list, you can have a dog.

I am afraid of most dogs because they bark. I only prefer dogs that don't bark or have a very quiet bark. The other day I walk into a small shop where the clerk there had a dog, and the dog looked like it was trained so I trusted it and thought ''OK, I don't think this dog is going to bark, being so it is in a public environment I doubt they will allow a dog that is liable to bark.'' But the dog did bark, quite loudly, and a lot of times when people came in and out, and it wouldn't settle. I just wish people would put a muzzle on their dogs because not everybody wants a dog barking at them.

This is a really important point Joe, the barking. I've rescued and fostered dogs and I'm very patient with them because they have often been abused or caged 24 hours a day without any kind of training or affection. I have to admit that the barking can be very difficult to deal with. There are times where I feel like I'm on the verge of overload because of it and I have to fight with myself to stay calm, it's very difficult and very draining. The barking is definitely something to consider when thinking about owning a dog.

My dog had saved my life as well, she was so awesome. I can agree with Ca2Mg... wrote well!
Dogs need a lot of love, care, they are so loyal, they will be by your side for life.
If you already have 2 dogs, i would focus on them before getting a 3rd dog. Bringing a new dog into the already existing household can
sometimes be tricky if all 3 dogs don't get along. Right now we have 3 cats. There was a point where we had 4 cats and my dog (she passed away last year). It took our Rico cat a little bit to get used to other new cats as we added them to our household.


You say your 2 are tolerant of other dogs, however even when other dogs are in the house? If one of or both of the dogs is older in age
you probably don't want to get a puppy or very hyper dog. Sometimes if a health problem develops, a dog who is good with others will want to be left alone by other dogs.
They are like children, when they get sick, you need to go to the vet. The bills can be staggering sometimes.
They need to fed, walked or let outside, played with, attention, and to feel loved.

If you work with the 2 you have now, you can get them more and more used to YOUR verbals and You! The more they realize you love them, the more they will come around you. If you brush their hair and comb them, even get a shampoo if needed, their hair might feel better to you.

I just have to add... as a sensory or touching issue, we have one of the softest fluffiest cats ever! she has 1/4th bobcat and is has no tail.
She is super soft!
My dog had the softest nicest fur before she got cancer, it was almost like a cat's it was so soft. Even my grandmother commented about her fur. She used to sleep on my bed too. She was the best canine daughter ever

Do you have pictures of them you can post? I'd like to see them.

I would have a hard time remembering to take care of it. That's a very very important consideration. If you can't take care of yourself, or even if you do manage to get by, a dog is not a good idea. I think if you're concerned about the emotional reciprocity, that's a valid concern also.

Personally, I dislike animals almost as much as I dislike people. I prefer my ipad any day. lol. And I'm too disorganized to take care of an animal. Besides, my lack of emotional reciprocity could be an issue and unfair to the animal. A dog can't just break up with me like a girlfriend can. lol

I do however i am unsure how to post the pictures up as i don't have a photobucket. If instructed i can post a picture or i can link you to a
picture of a dog that is the same breed as Boo was.
The cat pics i'd need to upload somehow on to here.

http://www.google.com/imgres?q=american ... ,s:0,i:133

The above mess is a link to the google pic of the American Dingo, Boo looked like the one on the top left

Look into this group: Autism Service Dogs of America

Dogs will help strengthen your social skills and connect with the world but as some people mentioned, some breeds will work better than others. Labs, golden retrievers, and a trained therapy dog will be best.

I have thought of getting a dog but what concerns me is that dogs are very good at picking up human emotions and so I think I might make mine confused.

Thanks for all the comments, very useful things to think about. One of the key things im concerned about that hadnt been addressed much here is what the dog will need from me emotionally. If I get a dog I want it to be happy and feel loved etc, but im really concerned I wont be able to adequately communicate affection and love to the dog. Im usually detached from people on an emotional level. What sort of things does a dog interpret as love from its human? I also dont really know how to play games and tend to prefer consistency and routine over fun and games, will that be a problem from the dogs point of view?