After lengthy discussions I have a pup from my next litter booked for its new home as a therapy dog for a 12 year old boywho has an aspberger/autistic disablity.

The dog would be very much J****  (under the supervision of his father) and he would be expected to carry out all the caring duties. The plan is to send them both off in the first instance to Good Citizens
classes run in the local community centre, both to socialise the puupy and to teach J** his reciprocating responsibilities.

The reason for the puppy is  to form a friendship/bond with J**. whose difficulties lie in the area of making and sustaining relationships. Consequently,  she will be a fully fledged member of the household and
certainly not left behind during holidays etc( which will be planned toinclude the dog). The idea is to make them inseperable. And the chances are very good if the dog has the patience and is laid back. He does show anaffinity with and love of animals.

How do I help make the choice. Is there anything specific about the puppy which I should be looking for.  The pup will be from a proven bitch and all previous litters are very laid back but very quick to learn, This is the reason I have decided which bitch to use, and has also helped be the deciding factor on stud also.

Has anyone done this, and if so, what were the main charactaristics of the pup finally chosen.  I really need to get this right.
Many thanks
Kay

Hello Kayc,
I have a 13 year old with asperger syndrome.  we  have a cross breed dog which is his.  He wanted a dog for years and we finally got him one 18 months ago.  As much as he loves the dog, autistic children tend to have phases with different obsessions so now the dog is really mine, which i knew it would be in the end. Anyway, my dog is quite a nervous dog with strangers, he does not let anyone stroke him, but he is not at all bothered by my sons shouts and tantrums, and sometimes 'different' behaviour.  Although I dont think the dog entirely trusts my son and can look puzzled {or it could be amusement) he loves to snuggle up in bed with him.
I know this does not answer your question, but i just had to reply due to the similar circumstances.  My dog is also very obiedient, quick to learn, and not a bit of bother, he was house trained during the day within three weeks.

Hi Zach, many thanks for that. The problem of J rejecting the dog at a later stage was discussed at great length for obvious reasons.  But although the dog will be primarily his responsibily, if he assumes that role, the dog is intended to be a full family pet, two older children plus parents also want to have a dog. So I have no worries on that score.  I have two bitches which Have planned matings, although several months apart, it was just a decision on which litter to take the pup from. Obviously I have gone for the more rock steady, laid back, take anything as it comes bitch, as her previous litters have all been, very steady and calm, without the slightest hint of any nervous disposition.  I just wondered if a more laid back attitude would suit, or maybe a pup that was slightly more explorative (if thats a word) would be better.
Any advice would be most grateful
Kay

I dont know which breed/type would be best but I feel that whatever it is that the pups should be bred and reared in the home by an expereinced breeder  who has a couple youngish  children in the family, including one about your sons age, would be idfeal - a busy household where the pup has become a bit  " desensitised" to normal family life. It will be used to the odd door slamming, raised voices  and loud music and the chaos that most children bring. ;-)

It should be confident without being pushy, probably not the boldest in the litter, but one that will come forward happily at 6-7 weeks if the boss puppy is out of the way and the one that sits at your feet ( if there is one) rather than tries to demolish your shoes and evrything around it. :-)

I wouldn't choose a toy breed or one larger than a labrador and would only buy a terrier if it was from very happy swet natured parents. I think I would opt for a bitch initially, but be prepared to have a male if he is kind and steady.   Hope this is helpful. 

Thanks Shifting Sands, but I am the breeder :D not the purchaser, But I do want to make sure that I help them choose the correct pup.

I would be inclined to give a steady confident dog who would take things in it's stride Sonja

To be honest I would let them choose each other! Presuming from your OP he has pick of the litter, I would let him sit in with the pups and see what happens. I am sure if it is meant to be, he and his dog will find one another.

Good luck and well done for being understanding enough to allow J to have one of your pups, a lot of people wouldn't be as thoughtful. :-)

hello kayc, i think what the last poster said would be a good idea.  when we chose our dog, there was three to choose from and my son picked the one that sat quietly in his arms without biting him, the other two, one bitch and one dog were squirming about and biting and my son didnt like that at all, but he soon got used to his dog play biting at home.  My friend has a lab and he is absolutely brilliant with my son.  My dog is supposed to be cross lab,but we think more whippet/greyhound from the way he looks now and the way he runs, but when he was a pup he did look like a lab.

It would be helpful if it wasn't the most vocal one as well as they don't like dogs that bark etc. so the quieter ones vocally would be better!

To be honest it really depends on the severity of this child's Autistic tendencies. Some children with Aspergers can be fine with animals but many Autistic children find it almost impossible to empathise with animals and can be very rough in their handling/interaction with them.

As has been mentioned Autistic/Aspergers children develop obsessions which are usually connected with 'patterning' or routines, they usually hate change or anything which is unpredictable- a puppy's inate unpredictability may prove frustrating and trigger a violent reaction.

I do take my BSD bitch to work every week as a PAT dog for the special school that I teach at, but I do have to be VERY aware of the reactions of the pupils with Autistic spectrum disorders - Lily is always 'presented' to them in the same very structured way and their approaches to her carefully supervised. She did not start her PAT work until she was 4 years old and I was convinced of her 'bombproof' nature. she is also a very quiet bitch with a low startle reflex (unusual in my breed ;))- and these qualities were apparent from when she was a pup which is why I kept her from the litter.

Do question the parents very carefully about what would happen if the pup and child did not bond - then if you are happy choose a bitch rather than a dog and one that seems the least bothered by outside stimuli and is happy to be handled/turned on their back/taken away from the others etc.

Good luck !

Would it not be a good idea to approach the recognised bodies that specialise in this field for their advice?

http://www.dogsforthedisabled.org/
http://www.caninepartners.co.uk/
http://www.dogaid.org.uk/

A friend of mine bought a puppy as a family pet, they have an autistic son and thought it would help, instead it worked the opposite way, the child was hysterical around the pup, so much so he stood on the kitchen table screaming every time the pup was in sight, sadly my friend had to rehome the pup after only 3 weeks, as her son got worse not better.

Now that the autistic spectrum has become recognised, it is apparent that that some children have profound disabilities, and others would 20 years ago just have been considered a "bit odd". Did any of you see Junior Mastermind, when a young boy with Aspergers' made it into the final? I was so delighted. :-) :-)
I think you will have an idea how it's going to go when the young man in question comes to your home to visit the puppies.

Deleted, duplicated on edit

Thank you for all your thoughts on this, All taken on board. Still a long way to go yet though, as mating not planned until mid July, So plenty of time to consider all eventualities before making any decisions.

Many thanks Tohme for those links.

Trevor (or Yvonne) would it be ok to PM you?

Of course ;)

Yvonne

The best way I have found of 'assessing' puppies is to use the Volhards Puppy Aptitude Testing system.   (You can find this on their website or by keying in Volhards Puppy Aptitude.... on your search engine). I use this for assessing puppies for any situation as I would always avoid the too independent, too dominant/aggressive, too nervous pups and concentrate on those that score midway on the scale when looking to place pups in a domestic/companion situation.  These are the ones that will probably bond well, be confident without being cocky and easily trainable which is just what you would want to find for this particular little boy.

The Volhard puppy tests are all right as far as they go, however the results need, IMHO, to be taken into account with several other factors.

For example, although a puppy with lots of "1s" might well be unsuitable a lot depends on the breed and the character of the parents.

EG few pet people would want or cope with a GSD/Rott/Weim that was mostly 1s however in some breeds I would be actively LOOKING for 1s eg in very shy or reserved breeds/or those from very shy parents.

The other thing to take into consideration as JD says is that for example the startle factor test is not complete until you have found something that DOES startle the dogs.  As  if, for example none of your dogs startle at dropping a brick or opening an umbrella you will not have tested anything apart from possible insensitivity :D

Whereas what you ARE looking for is how dogs recover from being startled which gives you a helluva lot more insight into the dog's character going forward.

Steve Dean who runs the breeding programme of the Met Police has adapted the VPAT to be more meaningful.