Therapy Dog For Tyler

Our 3 year old Son Tyler has Aspergers, which is a Autism Spectrum Disorder. This sometimes results in tantrums, the inability to self-sooth (calm himself down after being excited or upset), lack of safety awareness, and very high anxiety level which sometimes leads to him scratching himself and causing skin problems.Tyler is really on the right track. He has came a long way since he was diagnosed less than a year ago. He has a great support team which include Family Members, Dr's, Therapists, Teachers and Friends.One thing that I really think could help Tyler would be a dog. So I began looking into a Service Dog. After reading many sucess stories from parents of children with Autism receiving Service Dogs I began looking more deeply into organizations which provide Service Dogs and realized there's a bigger demand than I had imagined and a pretty lengthy waiting list. Once on a waiting list we would be looking into a 2+ year wait.When I got together my list of thing I would like the dog to help with I weighted the pros and cons of training a dog ourselves vs a adult service dog and realized Tyler would just as well benefit from a Therapy Dog. Some things my list included were-Calm Tyler, reduce anxiety-Walk with Tyler to give him a sence of independence (he is currently held by me when out)-Learn to alert us if Tyler goes for the front door-Provide anchoring for Tyler because he his a wanderer -Distract Tyler or help him break a cycle when his actions become too repetative With my list, I realized- this is possible, We can do this ! It will take a lot of training and work but it will be rewarding and it will be nice for Tyler to be able to grow up with a dog rather than be given a adult dog. Then I began to look at the cost of everything and boy does it add up ! Our family has done a lot of research and have chosen to go with a Doberman Pinscher. The doggy alone will cost $2000 and then the training seasons for obeidiance and theraphy training are around $100-$250 per session. Given our doggy is well behaved and takes well to the seasons we are looking at $3000+  for the first year and that's not even taking into consideration food and vet bills. I still know we can do this, but we can't do it Alone !I really think that Tyler will benefit greatly from having a Therapy Dog and a new Best Friend. I really hope we can make this happen soon for him !I really appreciate you taking the time to read our story and if you chose to donate My family thanks you greatly !