A Dog To Keep Peter Safe

When Peter was born four years ago, we never imagined the roller coaster ride he would take us on. At two weeks old he wasn't gaining weight because of an allergy to dairy proteins in my breastmilk. At nine months old he suffered his first anaphylactic reaction to eggs. At 16 months old he suffered his first anaphylactic reaction to peanuts. Since then he's had three more reactions requiring steroids and a hospital visit. While that may not seem like a big number, each reaction has been worst then the one before it. To add to his already scary allergy diagnosis, Peter is autistic and has no cognitive ability to understand that there are certain foods that he can't touch or eat without the possibility of anaphylaxis. As you can imagine, these two things in conjunction with each other have created a high anxiety lifestyle for our family and often leaves Peter left out of gatherings, parties, church events, school events, and even vacations due to the risk of exposure. We also live the life of a military family which means that I often find myself having to function as half of a partnership in raising our children. Our hope is that a trained canine companion can be the second set of eyes (or nose) that can alert me to allergens and help Peter become calm during meltdowns out in public and at home. If you've ever suffered from depression or anxiety, you know how I'm feeling. My fear of my child dying from something so simple as a peanut butter and jelly handprint left on a toy, a nut dropped on the playground, Nutella baked into brownies... I can't put into words how terrified those thoughts make me. I try so hard not to let the fear take over and I know that this dog will mean so much to calming those fears for us. All funds raised will go to Noelle's Dogs Four Hope to pay for the dual training of service canine for both autism and allergens, airfare and hotel to train with the animal when it has passed the final stages of its training and the flight home. All donations are tax deductible, please email your address for a receipt.