Hi all,

I am the mother of a 28 weeker who is now a happy healthy 3 year old..... with a few issues. He has SPD, oral aversion and anxiety. I am really hoping to get him a service animal to help with his sensory seeking, his refusal to eat and his routine of waking every 2 hours around the clock (he's still stuck on his NICU schedule, 3 years later). He is a seeker and bangs his head or "humps," and when he nurses he insists on twiddling which drives me up a wall. I have tried many substitutes for his tactile needs but he refuses them all. I'm hoping a therapy dog would distract him from those needs and also have that feeling of skin that I just cannot find an alternative for.

My biggest problem is that we are renters and I worry about running into problems with the "new" description of service animal. I could easily get him a "pet" that could be therapeutic for him, but a landlord could also easily refuse to rent to us with "pets." Can anyone think of "tasks" that a therapy dog could perform for a 3 yr old with sensory, sleep, and anxiety issues? He has extremely heightened hearing and loud sounds trigger his anxiety and he will drop everything and run to the safety of a trusted adult. He hears trains, fire engines, motorcycles, hot rods, etc.. loooong before we do. By the time we hear it, he is already running for us. I'm afraid that in his panic, he is going to run into traffic or fall over something trying to reach us. I'm sure a dog could be trained to alert us of approaching trains, sirens, etc.. but I don't know if that would qualify as a task that cannot be replaced by something else.

Anyone have any suggestions? TIA.

Sorry, I'll be blunt and honest here, but a dog is not a miracle worker. A dog is not a replacement for therapy, nor any other coping tools and strategies that your child would learn.

You're going about this backwards. Instead of thinking 'What can a service dog do for my kid" think "What can my kid not do independantly, for his age range and maturity, that a service dog could help with?" The short answer is that you're his parent, and a dog is just like another toddler running around. Even well trained ones. Service dogs are also used for increased independence- no three year old will be independant, disability or not.

Why cant you tether him to yourself if you fear him running out in public? They make toddler harnesses that are just for that purpose- to keep kids from wandering. It's much safer to have him attached to YOU as an adult, who has 100% control over where you walk, compared to a dog. A dog can bolt suddenly out of fear, can run into the street and drag the child along with him. Even well trained dogs can get spooked or break training.

http://www.animalsandsociety.org/assets/...aviora.pdf
Refer to page 50 - child got dragged when the dog broke a stay to chase another dog.

Page 51 - Children in meltdown often direct the agression at the dog because it is a closer target. .
Some of the more agressive children would hit or thrash out at the dog, startling the dog and causing the dog to move away from the source of physical abuse.
Fortunately the dogs developed a learned sense of when to move in to distract or comfort the child and when to move away to avoid the childs to avoid the child 's anger.

A dog simply providing sensory input isn't going to teach him how to handle the need for input. He needs occupational therapy to learn these things.

A nice pet will do great in teaching him how to be kind around animals, give lots of love and affection, but there would be no need for a public access service dog for a child his age.

Melatonin is a great natural remedy for sleep issues, even safe with children. Anxiety can be dealt with through therapy. He needs to learn to cope with these things before a service dog would ever be helpful.

I recommend http://www.servicedogcentral.org/content/ for more information

Thank you for all of your information. He has been in therapy since he was born. He has an OT, feeding therapy, speech therapy, etc.. I am trying to explore all options that may help my son develop and grow. I'm looking for ways to help him in addition to his regular therapies. A service dog may not be the answer, but I feel I would be remiss as a mother if I didn't explore any and all options for my child.

My son bolts, no matter where we are, even playing in the front yard. He has tripped over the toy he is playing with trying to run to us. I cannot keep him tethered to me 24/7 and I would never tether my child to an animal. I would want the animal to alert me, not my son, until he is much older.

A service dog or therapy animal may not be the right fit for my son's needs, but I'm not ready to close the door on it quite yet.

Thank you for all of the information you provided. :-)

Tracie