Autism assistance dog

[Warmwoolytights]

Has anyone ever has an assistance dog for autism? I’d be really interested in any experiences on the process of applying, through to the dogs themselves and the difference it made to your family.

I have two children with autism who love dogs and are really keen to have one, but we as a family have no experience of dogs and I am wondering if this would be the right thing for us. Both of them have had positive experiences with dogs owned by friends and family.

My ASD child relates to animals like he does people, he knows he loves them but is never quite sure how to interact with them. This has resulted in him greeting friends like he greets the dog, by ruffling their hair 😂

Aw, that sounds very sweet. Do you have dogs?

Having 2 children with ASD, I'd be wary of how it would go longer term. Any barking would be a huge trigger for ours.
Cats may be a better option and less intrusive.

I am not child, but I am autistic. I am in the process of getting a dog and then will train him with an assistance dog charity (not aduk) to be an assistance dog for myself.

you can see him in the other thread with the two pictures.

he will come to me partially trained, in the standard obedience stuff. He was chosen especially for me based on what I needed and how he is, as in his temperament. Hence him only just being chosen now at about 8 months old.

it is expensive doing it this way, but the only aduk charity I qualify for are double what I’m paying and they have a huge waiting list.

all the aduk charities have huge and most if not all currently have a closed waiting list.

if you are looking to buy an assistance dog, as in from companies offering fully trained ones for sale. The likes of ravenskeeper and wkd. Avoid these two not sure about any others but these two source dogs from Eastern Europe with no papers or health tests and often only do very basic training despite saying it’s fully trained.

the place I am getting mine from is a gun dog breeder and trainer, who has provided dogs to an aduk charity, partially trained dogs to people wanting them as assistance dogs, for people as pets both puppies and partially trained and as gundogs too.

i would highly recommend joining the assistance dog owner and charity trained uk Facebook groups, if you are on Facebook. They are very knowledgable and helpful.

Thank you. I’ve looked in the past and seen all the lists closed but my local SEN group flagged up that one has opened its waiting list for the next month so this is our chance to register. It’s a charity, not one just offering them for sale, so I’d hope it’s reputable but thank you for the tip. It wouldn’t have occurred to me that they might operate like that.

I’ll look at that FB group, thank you.

This is why I’m looking at assistance dogs, as they are trained specifically to be suitable.

Which child needs it and what for?

i know there is one charity aduk open for applications at the moment autism dogs (till the 19th January) Which is the only one I qualify for but the cost is prohibitively expensive for me. Hence me doing it a different way. I know there’s a few that provide dogs for autistic children, that don’t cost or may have a price but I’m not totally sure,

the Facebook groups I mentioned are multiple groups, sorry if that wasn’t clear, there’s 3 named pretty much the same thing, and are pretty similar.

There are some organisations that certify assistance dogs and when I last checked there were no recognised official organisations accrediting Autism assistance dogs in the UK meaning that you wouldn’t have the legal protections someone with a guide dog for the blind or a hearing dog would have. This could restrict where you can take the dogs eg supermarkets and restaurants, hospitals etc would be entitled to turn you away without the relevant documentation (needs to be officially accredited training and appropriate insurances)

Please double check before paying for an assistance dog because there have been some unscrupulous companies taking money and handing over poorly trained and/or sick dogs who ultimately cannot perform the jobs they were gained to do

Yes, that’s the one. Sorry, I didn’t mean the dogs were free. Just that it was a charity and not a commercial enterprise.

Thanks for clarifying re FB!

Thank you. We wouldn’t need that sort of special status but it’s helpful to understand what the position would be.

The dogs can help with healthier lifestyles, sensory stress, sleeping patterns, anxiety…

sorry, I just was kind of trying to explain why I’m doing it this way. My wording isn’t the best sometimes.

https://www.assistancedogs.org.uk/members/

autism dogs is an aduk charity so, basically a proper official route but some people have differing opinions on them. A few people say they can be a bit awkward or something, I don’t quite know any details but a lot of people say they’re very good too. So no idea really.

there’s no official register of assistance dogs in the uk, so you can owner train whether totally by yourself, or using a trainer. So you don’t have to go down the aduk charity route. But I know many prefer doing it that way, especially if they don’t have experience of dogs. Some places in the uk will say they only accept into the premises an aduk registered/trained dog but this is illegal, as owner trained is perfectly acceptable in law. At least I think that’s right. The groups have experts and people more experienced than me.

If you want to take the ad abroad many countries only recognise aduk or adi dogs in law. And many airlines only accept that too. But I know Eurostar (though I know that is a train) recently changed on their policy to allow owner trained dogs (and randomly I’m sure j read assistance cats 😂 ). The USA is more flexible on ad. Just in case your looking to travel.

Thank you. I really appreciate you sharing so much helpful information. I hope everything goes brilliantly with your dog.