Re: gaurd dog

[Guest guest]

Is there any type of dog that anyone would recommend for a gaurd dog that will

not eat up my autistic daughter?

CAthy

From: kiddietalk <kiddietalk@...>

Subject: [ ] Re: Looking for help with proloquo2go

Date: Saturday, June 12, 2010, 9:10 AM

We don't need the proloquo2go or I would have for sure gotten this

already. But want to try to help you. Prior to offering to pay someone to

tutor you how to use I'd explore other options.

It as it appears to me that most would be happy to help you for free either

because

A. they too care for a child with special needs and want to reach out to you

just as families and professionals here do all the time.

B. they have a employee, employer, owner financial interest in prologue2go or

iTouch and are paid to help you.

I found this page http://www.proloquo2go.com/Support which appears to me to be a

good place to start to find the As and Bs I speak of above:

Get Support for Proloquo2Go

Frequently Asked Questions

Our FAQ provides answers to the most commonly asked questions.

Community Discussion

Join our brand new Proloquo2Go Community forum to exchange experiences and ideas

with Proloquo2Go users and others involved with Proloquo2Go.

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Contact

If you cannot figure something out yourself or have a question not answered on

this web site feel free to send us an email.

http://www.proloquo2go.com/Support

Hope that helps!

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[Guest guest]

I have a huge archive on this below. The archive states apraxia more as that

was the question that came up when this topic came up typically. But unlike

apraxia which as always gets little to no press...autism not only has awareness

about pet therapy -it even has it's own organization to help those with autism!

http://autismservicedogsofamerica.com

So hope for any with special needs -the following info is a huge long archive on

pet therapy in general...it's not over till you read " end of archives "

Re: Dogs for children with apraxia?

Colleen -to me it's the best thing we ever did for our boys -get

them a dog that teaches them so many things like responsibility -

that's always there to love them no matter what. As we've posted in

the past however -make sure the dog is good with children -and that

the children are good with the dog. Below are just a few of the

archives -and one that is quite interesting about a therapy dog

named Gypsy:

From: " kiddietalk " <kiddietalk@...>

Date: Thu Nov 20, 2003 8:10 pm

Subject: Benefits of a child owning a pet

What did I post about just this morning as a joke?!! Hamsters right?

Tomorrow is " mammal pet day " for Tanner -he can't bring in Woodstock

(my Amazon parrot -the one who can't be around teflon) or his fish

(until bird pet day and fish pet day) so

Tanner asked for a hamster to bring in. When Tanner and I came home

today from a therapy session -Daddy and Dakota surprised us with two

new pet gerbils! (The pet store talked Glenn out of getting two

hamsters -said they would fight, but apparently gerbils get along.

Seems we can learn more from gerbils.)

We always had lots of pets too Karyn, but since our dog Max died and

we found new homes for Coco and Jock (our horse and pony) and the

chickens and fish, it's only been " sister " Woodstock for the past

year. The boys never really took care of any pet themselves up till

now. I think this is a good thing -but will keep a close watch to

make sure it stays that way for the sake of all. (I myself worked

through FOZ at the Bronx and Central Park Zoo when I was only 13 -

and know little kids don't always make the best pet owners!)

I'm sure you all know the benefits of a child owning a pet,

especially a special needs child.

THE POTENTIAL BENEFITS of ANIMAL ASSISTED THERAPY

FOR CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS

Dawn Oakley OTR/L and Gail Bardin, OTR/L

According to journalist Odean Cusack, " Anyone who has ever owned a

pet will readily verify the benefits of associating with furred,

feathered, or finned friends. Animals are fun to be with and

comforting to hold. Their antics inspire humor and a sense of

carefreeness, a return to childhood with its buoyant spirits. Caring

for pets encourages nurturance, responsibility, and adherence to a

daily schedule. Pets enable owners to reach outside themselves and

to put aside fears of an uncertain future. Pets live in the

immediate moment, and interacting with them makes us keenly aware of

the present with all its joys and idiosyncrasies. "

For children with special needs, the ability to interact with a dog,

cat, or other furry friend can have a very positive impact upon

their quality of life. Interacting with a pet can sometimes enhance

recovery following a serious illness. It can change behavior, create

a sense of responsibility and even improve a child's ability to

participate in therapeutic treatment leading to achievement in

relation to identified goals and objectives. Children are often

extremely trusting and easily achieve a level of intimacy with

animals. This special bond contributes to pets' effectiveness as co-

therapists. "

Read entire article at :

http://www.kidneeds.com/diagnostic_categories/articles/animalassistedtherapy.htm

=====

[Guest guest]

Hi,

I'm not sure what you are looking for here, exactly. I don't think having a

guard dog for someone who is autistic and non-verbal is advisable as most guard

dog owners need to be in complete control of the animal. What you may want to

look into is a therapy dog whose inclination to protect and/or bond is strong.

This is what I looked for when picking out a therapy dog for our non-verbal

PDD-NOS daughter and speech/language delayed son. I eventually chose a Vizsla

for their even demeanor and " velcro dog " traits. This breed will follow you all

over, even to the bathroom! The more people in their " pack " , the happier they

are. They are also a high energy dog, with loose skin around their jowls (good

for kids to grab) and hypo-allergenic. I trained her myself, teaching her how

to react during fits by our daughter, non-verbal commands, obedience, and most

importantly, subservience. This dog knows it's at the bottom of the pack, and

is happy about it. As I said, by nature this dog wants to be near its pack

members, so she is always running around with an eye towards the family,

protecting if you will, has a loud bark, and if necessary will defend against

someone they deem a threat. That said, she has been trained to like everyone

first and foremost, that is the role of a therapy dog. The roles of guard dogs

and therapy dogs conflict, so you have to decide what you are looking for and if

it is truly right.

>

> From: kiddietalk <kiddietalk@...>

> Subject: [ ] Re: Looking for help with proloquo2go

>

> Date: Saturday, June 12, 2010, 9:10 AM

>

[Guest guest]

never underestimate a child and/or the power of pets. There are numerous

stories of therapy animals that have bonded with individuals that never before

liked animals. And incredible real life stories like Henry

You can buy the book too A Friend

Like Henry

http://www.amazon.com/Friend-Like-Henry-Remarkable-Autistic/dp/1402214065

I know there's been much talk here how dogs view us as part of their pack -but

in the same light we as humans view them as part of the family over time. I

find the statement " I need a dog that is not trying to be her friend but can

tolerate her. I need the dog to bond with me " to be a bit odd. I mean who knows

-maybe the dog will try to bond with your daughter and they will become friends

-maybe even the dog will bond more to your daughter than to you. Dogs have a

sense as I've written before of who needs them. Many tend to respect those

people that dogs like -as dogs seem to have a sense of those who are pure of

heart.

And guess I was mixing up the guard dog aspect as any large dog can be viewed as

a guard dog. You don't mean a dog that is trained to attack do you?!!! There

is no way I'd ever get a dog like that and put them around a child -any child!

I don't believe children are born to hate animals; but life happens. Maybe they

grow up hearing things - like my mom had a view of cats and could have passed

them down to me. Or perhaps your daughter has a fear and hatred of animals

because she hasn't been around animals enough. And the chance of a child

overcoming a " hatred " to animals is far easier than a grown woman who feared

with a passion cats all her life. My mother again most of my young life feared

cats- maybe hate was a strong word but she didn't like them. And she probably

could have passed that on to me as she always had a negative comment about cats.

I was never the typical and always loved animals- but did accept due to growing

up with my mother that cats must be " cold "

But I know a cat that won my mother over, won over anyone that even hated cats

-and convinced me that cats are far from cold...and that cat happened to do this

was a special needs cat. Here's the story that's in the archives about my cat

. I hope reading about Henry and help you to understand my first

sentence " never underestimate a child and/or the power of pets "

" never stopped talking

When I was a teenager and still living home with my parents -I dated

this guy Bruce that owned a pet store. One day when I visited Bruce

in the shop I noticed a little Siamese kitten that was in a cage

without all the other Siamese kittens. The other Siamese kittens

were all much larger than this one little kitten who couldn't stand

up and just kept crying and crying -and trying to stand and kept

falling over and over -all alone.

I asked Bruce about this little Siamese kitten and he told me he was

sending the kitten " back " because there was something wrong with it,

so it couldn't be sold.

After a big fuss (Bruce strongly did not want to give me this

kitten) He finally agreed to let me adopt this little teeny tiny

Siamese kitten that I named " "

I brought right away to a vet that our family used for our

other pets in Westfield, NJ -and I recall they were shocked to see

such a kitten with such severe defects. I don't remember 's

diagnosis -it was a long name and I'd have to look it up -but she

had severe neurological problems which affected her balance, sight,

and movement and there was suspicion that the mother may have had

distemper. The vet told me that a kitten like is rare to

begin with -and even more so since the mother cats typically will

reject a baby that usually is found to have serious defects. They

even asked if they could study to track her progress.

was not expected to live a long life. could see -

but I was told she saw things in doubles and triples and wouldn't

know where things were in space.

at first couldn't eat because she couldn't sense where the

bowl was even if we held her body and put her face by the dish.

When she tried to eat she looked like a woodpecker with her head -

and as she got close to the bowl she would be so excited to reach

the food that she would squirm out of our hands and fall into the

dish- knocking her food or milk all over. She couldn't stand even

at first -so walking was for awhile out of the question -but she

never stopped trying -and we kept feeding so she kept

getting stronger (she only liked the really expensive cat gourmet

cat foods in little cans)

proved everyone wrong - she learned to eat on her own like a

woodpecker - walk on her own like a drunken sailor -and even run at

times -like a snake (the back of her body which was weak would sway

from side to side) Of course since couldn't see where walls

were in reality she lost some of her front teeth when she was

playing. couldn't jump -the back of her body was kind of

limp -so she instead learned how to climb up onto things with her

front legs. As strong as 's front legs were -she didn't use

them to scratch others.

Unlike most cats - would come to you when you called her -she

would answer the door bell with her friends (our dogs) Actually

acted more like a dog than a cat. When she was happy -which

seemed like always -she would purr really loud and lick your face

with her stinky rough tongue.

People who hated cats actually changed their mind when they met

-she could win over anyone.

wasn't my child -she was my pet. I didn't take her because

I felt sorry for her -or because I wanted to punish myself -or

because I thought I was so tolerant or special I could help her when

nobody else could. I took out of that pet store because I

saw a kitten that wanted and deserved a chance just like the others -

and that's what I gave her.

lived into her teens -and as most Siamese cats -she never

stopped " talking " to us up to the end. Having as a pet was

one of the blessings of my life. She taught me and many others much

more than what we taught her.

Ironically while never stopped " talking " , years later I

became a mom to two children who were " late talkers " The lessons

taught me helped me to help my boys to overcome, and to help

others like them through the CHERAB Foundation which I founded.

Who but God is to say what type of life is right and what type of

life is wrong? -as if there is such an answer! "

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