Posted on June 24, 2010 by: WayCoolDogs

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Today’s Question

Mary: “ I was needing a puppy for my son. He sometimes gets out of the house. He is very smart and he figures things out easy. Especially locks. He is only 4. My sister told me about this puppies that help with the kids. She told me this puppies are trained to stop them from getting out and also helps them calm down. Please contact me with information.”

Dear Mary,

I am not sure if your son is just overactive or has a diagnosis, which would influence the type of dog he can have. The best ordinary dogs for the average young child are  Beagles, Pugs, Brussel Griffons, Labradors, american Eskimos and Golden Retrievers. The Miniature and Standard Poodles are good, but not the snappy toy Poodles. Of course, the personality of each dog is influenced by their socialization years when younger.

Service dogs for children

If you are looking for a service dog to work with your son, a young puppy at eight weeks of age is not wise as they have no training time to keep your son inside or helps them calm down. However, a young puppy who is trained in the home with service dog professionals monitoring it is an option for you.

Service dogs are trained for specific issues – autism, children with seizures, in-home companion dogs, or multipurpose service dogs.  One place is the 4 Paws For Ability, Inc.  who provides an In Home Companion Dog for your child. The In Home Companion Dog is a dog with the same skills as all of the working service dogs. If you have a son with Autism you can get an In Home Companion who is able to track your child, should he wander from home, and is trained in behavior disruption as well. They also provide  dog if your son has seizures, facilitated scent work may be done with the dog. If you son has mobility issues, some mobility tasks may be trained. Whatever is needed by the child in the home may be trained just as a service dog would be. The 4 Paws Application is at this link.

One website with lots of information is Service Dog.  They have had a service dog at seven weeks of age, so maybe you can contact them with some questions.

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