Dear Parents, 

 

We knew someone who, at the time, used service dogs as part of her practice. She had recently retired her service dog and got a new one, so this was all top of mind for her - she ultimately connected us to someone who ran a service animal program and asked us to complete quite a lengthy application. Upon receiving the paperwork, eventually, my entire family was interviewed. The organization was called “Canine Companions for Independence” (CCI).

 

The entire process took about two years. I was eight years old. I still have him now, but he’s retired (he had to at 10). They have to get regular weigh-ins and stay at 65 pounds. My first service dog’s name is Lysander, but we call him “Sander”.

 

Service dogs are bred exclusively for this purpose. When they are born, they are assigned their puppy raiser. That’s why they track their veterinary records. Usually, service dogs are raised from birth to 18 months by a “puppy raiser” and it just so happened that the daughter of the family raising him was studying to become a behavioral therapist. 

 

Before match day, we had 4-5 days of exercises we had to do before meeting Sander, but Sander was never there. We graduated in May with Sander and 3-6 months later we had to go back and test with him (to make sure all these skills weren’t going away). We also had to consistently send through vet records. After the second year, we had to come back for a check-in after a year. After the third year, a year and a half - and so on. 

 

Dogs are always matched at two years old after being trained for 18 months. Lenny, my second service animal (after retiring Lysander) was a “release dog”. This meant that he didn’t match in a particular class. Lenny just wanted to play and not follow any rules or “work”!

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What was actually happening?

 

• When I was young, I used to get dysregulated and found myself unable to articulate some of the things I was experiencing. I had a low tolerance for frustration, and when I hit my threshold, I would dissolve into a tantrum (that could last more than 30 minutes, wearing everyone out). 

• Note from parent: This was profoundly and immediately changed when we got her Skilled Companion dog. Within a day or two, she had a tantrum coming on. Sander went right into her lap, and Merrill's frustration instantly de-escalated. It was incredible and I wouldn't have believed it was possible had I not seen it myself.

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Things I’d recommend to help your child in a situation like this:

 

• If your child doesn’t like dogs or is allergic, the broader idea is finding something your child loves and responds to, and look at ways that might offer alternative, therapeutic support.  

• Note from parent: In Merrill's case, her therapist and we observed that dogs had a very calming, grounding effect on her. Literally, having a dog sit on her lap was the equivalent to a weighted blanket. And Lysander's licking (which he was trained to do by the puppy raiser who was studying ABT), provided sensory input that soothed Merrill when she started to feel dysregulated.