My 5 year old son has proprioceptive input (sensory seeker), Auditory Processing Disorder, Tourette's, and PDD-Non Specified. We have three cats who he just chases (his OT says that they don't provide him with enough input). He is seriously connected with my mom's sheltie and I am considering looking for a dog friend for him at home. Does anyone have any experiance with a emotional support dog helping their special needs child. And if so, what kind of pup.
Melissa
ESAs are amazing! I actually have an ESA cat, but I have a therapy dog that visits me at church and we're looking at getting a dog.
How experienced are you with dogs? Are there any service dog organizations in the area?
My immediate reaction for a child that young is to look at skilled companion dogs. These are the dogs that had been in training to be service dogs but washed out for various reasons. These means they ended up as well trained pet dogs that were just not good enough for various reasons to be service dogs. They tend to be ones that just aren't up to the stress of being in public. However, they're great and stable at home. What places want to do with them is adopt them out to kids with disabilities who either aren't ready for or don't need full service dogs.
As for breeds, that's dependent on what you've had experience with, because he's so young.
(To clarify, skilled companion dogs are a subclass of ESAs that have already been trained that are well trained and already trained and good for children.)