Newsletter Article from Activedogs.com
Written by: Carrie, April 2008
Tender Loving Canines Assistance Dogs, Inc. is a non-profit organization based in San Diego California. They have been serving the disabled for 10 years through the training of service dogs. Currently they have 13 trainers and hope to expand due to the growing demand for these trained companions.
They currently train Autism, Seizure Response, Mobility, Specialty, and Facility dogs. I spoke with Karen Shultz, one of the trainers, and was absolutely amazed with what she told me. With these dogs as trained companions, children with autism (always children first is the protocol) are able to participate in activities that normally would be too daunting. Activities such as; going for a walk, taking a trip to the mall, riding a carousel, or simply going on a family outing. Karen explained to me that the main rule of thumb with training the autism dogs is keeping it simple.
There are approximately 160 cues for training an average service dog and approximately 50 cues to train an autism dog. She spoke specifically of a little girl with Autism and her companion, Muffet. Previous to owning Muffet this little girl would have to be carried by her parents in and out of every therapy session.
Now she walks in proudly holding Muffet’s handle and leaves the same way. During her sessions she would go into full-blown meltdowns and now, with Muffet by her side she instead reaches for her and is able to calm down by petting her. When the doorbell rang at home she would run for the door, open and let the visitor in and run outside. Muffet was trained so now when the doorbell rings she stands firmly in front of her not even permitting her to reach the door. Climbing stairs was impossible before and now Muffet will climb one stair at a time with her holding his handle and she is now able to climb a flight of stairs. Karen told me her meltdowns used to last up to 3 hours and now they last 3 minutes. The autism dogs actually help to calm the entire family not just the autistic child due to the responsibilities that the dog assumes.
The importance and significance of these dogs goes beyond anything I had previous assumptions of. I would like to thank Karen for taking the time to talk with me about her organization and about the genuine need for these dogs. I hope this article was as enlightening and touching to read as it was for me to write.
Child Harness Vest
We have designed our Child's Harness Vest with many convenient features to help facilitate teaching and training a child to work together with a service dog. The shoulder straps are made with reflective webbing for extra safety. The harness can easily slip over the Childs head, but some children do not like things touching their head so in addition we have made these straps to buckle on and off.
The reflective shoulder straps are also adjustable. The front panel of the harness vest has a Velcro closing clear vinyl window pocket. You can put an identification card or medical information in. This is a helpful feature should the child and supervisor become separated. The back panel has a reflective handle should the child's supervisor need to give the child extra assistance. There is a D-ring at the back of the harness vest which works well to give the child a little space while training, yet at the same time keeping the child in safe distance of the supervisor. Both the front and back panels of the harness are padded with no-scratch shearling fabric.
The belt is adjustable and buckles in the back so the child cannot easily slip the harness off. On the left side of the harness belt there is a floating O-ring to attach the dog. By having the O-ring free floating it will make walking with the dog a more natural movement for the child.
See measuring diagram on Activedogs.com for a proper fit for your child. The color tab button choice is for the child's shoulder measurement and the size tab button is for the waist measurement. To see a larger version of the measure chart go to the Measure Charts page on the site tab bar.
