FOR THE CHILDREN

Street Certified Companion Dogs for children provide emotional support, love, friendship, and comfort to their children, who may have a wide variety of disabilities.

Pictured here is MURPHY and his young partner, ANN CLAIR, who has multiple disabilities including visual impairment and global delays.

Lucky.  Just wanted to again thank you and your staff for providing my daughter with such a wonderful companion. Lauren and Lucky have become almost inseparable. Lauren Now wants and will only sleep in her own bed with her Lucky. Lauren tells Lucky it's time to go to bed and off they both go. Lucky loves to have Lauren brush her, as much as Lauren loves to brush Lucky. Lucky follows Lauren everywhere. This wonderful friend has made life so much easier. I can now go about my house work and chores without constantly having to stop to check on Lauren or entertain her. As I can almost always hear Lauren giggling or talking to her friend. Lauren's speech has really improved. (Maybe cause she is always telling her dog to sit, lay down, come here, eat your food, go outside.)

Lucky follows and just seems to understand. Also her seizures seem to be so much fewer. She has only had that I know of for fact 5 seizures since Lucky has been with Lauren. One seizure Lucky was right there and just licked her face and hands laid down as close to Lauren as she could get and stayed till Lauren was through seizing then laid on the floor right beside Lauren and kept checking her till she woke up. As a matter of fact we are now weaning her off another one of her medications. In about 4-6 weeks she will only be on one medication. We have our fingers crossed. Lauren doesn't seem to have as much trouble with being what we call tunnel vision as much.

Her interests have expanded. Her obsessions seems to be so much less. There is more variety in what she does and plays with. She is always ready to get up in the morning so she can let her dog go out. She even seems to understand and mind more. She doesn't seem to be as tired as she was. I as her mother think this is due to someone to play with instead of playing alone.

I sometimes wonder if she wasn't depressed or maybe had some separation anxiety due to the fact her father is not in her life as well as her older siblings live in another state. She enjoys playing outside more cause her lucky goes with her. She has become more independent and more self sufficient. As in dressing her self, picking out what she wants to wear, putting on her own shoes, on the right feet, even picking up her toys, which is partly due to she doesn't want Lucky to get them.

They play fetch chase each other. Lauren giggles and runs and so her motor skills have also improved. She can now descend the stairs so much better, She runs and walks with more confidence. She and Lucky like playing as Lauren refers to it as Lucky go get it. Lauren will throw a toy down the stairs and Lucky will bring it back to her. Lauren also is throwing so much better due to playing catch with her dog. Lucky does wonderful when we go out to eat or shopping or to church.

She is so loving and accepting of my daughter. We can tell her to go check on Lauren and she does, and will lay beside her if Lauren is playing alone in her room. Puts her head in Lauren's lap and just lays there. If we ask lucky to check on Lauren if she is napping Lucky will jump up where ever Lauren is sleeping lick her face then lay down beside her till she wakes up.

Lucky has truly been what Lauren has needed to help fill some type of void in her life. We feel LUCKY to have her in our life and as part of the family.

Thanks again...Jeannie Klawuh, (mom of) Lauren Anderson

Tyler didn't talk at that age either. In fact the 'experts' told me when he was about 4 1/2 that I should not expect to ever be verbal. At about 5 he began to speak more than one word at a time. He could run a computer at 3, but said nothing. He used the PECS boards, sign language and PC to communicate when forced to. Otherwise he much preferred his own company. Never give up on the verbal thing no matter what they tell you.

The friend issue didn't really come up until about age 9 when it dawned on him that his year older brothers friends were just that...'his brother's friends'...not his. He is smart enough to know he is different and know he has no friends of his own. By age 10, this knowledge coupled with a nightmare of a special ed teacher had Tyler suicidal and thus the Psychiatrist prescribed a service dog for him. It has done the world for Tyler. He now has a BEST friend who is nonjudgmental and incessantly forgiving.

My son literally began living again for that dog. Scooby Doo has opened many new worlds for Tyler. The other kids (neighborhood/school) are quite cruel by around the age 6 with 'different' kids, but now some of those same kids are so amazed and drawn to Scooby that they often overlook a lot of Tyler's eccentric behaviors. Naturally, some kids are still beastly, but it is easier for Tyler because he is so proud to have his best friend.

When we first thought of getting a service dog, I did not know exactly what to expect either. I am not disappointed. He has helped Tyler grow in ways I could not even have guessed. Tyler feeds him, brushes him, takes him out and is overall much more responsible. He has even developed a bit of empathy which does not come easily for our children. I don't think he would have been ready for Scooby as young as 3, but the search and rescue aspect would have been a Godsend. Tyler was a wanderer as well.

If Jules wanders, I hope you are getting this training. Wandering seems to be a typical aspect of young autistic children since they have no inhibition. He hated the feeling of clothes so often he would strip and leave. We had 3 sets of locks on the doors to try to prevent him, but his gross motor skills were always way advanced and he could climb with the best of them so he did escape time to time. No matter what anyone says, you just cant watch them every second of the day and that is all it takes. Maybe if children with autism are given service dogs as young as Jules, they won't have to go through the depression and void of friends like Tyler did. Every child deserves a best friend even if it is furry and has 4 paws.

From Sydney's Mom and Rooney, the wonder dog!

Rooney did try to alert to the last seizure but I missed his cues and just thought he was being disobedient...:(

He would not stay in his "place" or his "down" at her Physical therapy and kept trying to "go to" Sydney, (but she was not calling him) I was so embarrassed thinking that he was not minding me in front of the new therapist.

I was not embarrassed once we all caught up to his knowledge!

Here's the story of the week for you guys. Jeremy will remember that at first Owen didn't like to touch Chase's slobber, well we've overcome that.... We were camping and Owen ate something that got all over his face so he called Chase over to lick his mouth off and said to me (and I quote) "Who needs wipes!" He thought he was so funny and Chase was pretty cute too, like he got away with something.

Every day is an adventure. Chase is the school mascot. I'll be sending a picture of him with the class soon. It's going really well there are only 12 children in the kindergarten class and 2 teachers. We brought his kennel in and he likes to lay in there during the day. We are really lucky the school has been excellent. They have a special spot for him to potty and the gym teacher invited Chase to participate in gym class because he thinks Chase needs exercise too.

We found a quick trip to Walmart is impossible since every time we turn a corner someone stops us to ask questions. But we have had no trouble everyone has been really supportive. We took Chase to a clinic visit at a hospital in Green Bay and the hospital was excellent as well. It's amazing how Owen just turns on the charm to people he smiles and tells Chase to sit or down and people just get a kick out of the dog listening to him.