Why A Service Dog?

You might be asking yourself — why a service dog?  what would a service dog be trained to do that would help Christian?

Here are the four main areas that Christian’s service dog (“Ubu“) will be trained in:

1. Public Access Certification –  This will give us the freedom utilize the dog’s services while in public.  The dog will allow our family to visit parks, museums, libraries, community events, get-togethers, etc. that we now have to skip or plan for very carefully.  This would also give us the peace of mind that we could visit a store without the worry of Christian dashing off without notice and/or having a large public meltdown (think tantrum, but BIGGER).
2. Behavior Disruption – The dog will be trained to step in (or even sense ahead of time) when a meltdown occurs and offer comfort and distraction for Christian.  The dog can also be taught to remind him (through barking) that he shouldn’t relieve himself outside of the bathroom, undress in the backyard, put things in his mouth that don’t belong (i.e. sand, dirt, …), etc.
3. Boundary Training –  This training will be especially important in our yard.  The dog will be taught to alert (by barking) Christian’s parents if Christian starts running towards the road, to the neighbor’s house, or into our neighboring cornfields.  The dog would also be taught to get in front of Christian and cut him off so that he cannot continue moving in the possibly dangerous direction that he intended.
4. Direct Pressure Training –  Christian’s senses become easily overwhelmed.  The best way that I have heard this described is to imagine yourself in a busy shopping mall (think Christmas time).  Do you see all of the people?  Are you mentally taking pictures of everyone of them?  Do you hear every conversation (and not as background noise)?  Do you hear people chewing their food or gum?  Do you smell every scent wafting from the food court, coffee shops, perfume stands, and candle stores?  Do you feel claustrophobic because of the proximity of all of the people buzzing around?  Are you assaulted by all of the vibrant colors and moving displays?  Overwhelmed yet???  This is sensory overload!  To help dealing with this, the dog will be trained to apply comforting pressure to Christian.  While Christian is somewhat calmed by his parents when they apply pressure by squeezing his head, taking him for a run, letting him swing, etc., the dog would be trained to vibe this sensory overload and help Christian by laying its body weight across Christian’s lap, legs, or back hopefully calming him before he is overwhelmed or helping him to chill if he had too much.