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I need your help to make a huge positive impact on Addie's life! We are purchasing a puppy that will be trained as a service dog for her. Addie has gone through more in her 8 years of life than most adults and she has many medical diagnoses. Addie was born with a genetic syndrome and congenital heart defects. She has had 4 open heart surgeries, 11 more surgeries and too many medical procedures to count. After her first heart surgery she had a brain bleed that caused problems with her vision that continue to impact her daily life. She was diagnosed with an anxiety disorder and a couple of years ago was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Addie struggles daily with impulse control, negative behaviors, terrible anxiety and social difficulties. She has a decreased visual field and decreased balance and coordination. A service dog can have a huge positive influence on all of these issues.
A service dog is individually trained to perform tasks that help the person/child be more independent. Some tasks that Addie's service dog would be trained in are: providing deep pressure to help decrease anxiety caused by over stimulation, medical appointments, crowded or loud environments, interrupt negative behaviors and self stim, improve her sleep, keep her safe while going down the stairs (she has poor coordination and falls down the stairs often) and will provide an opportunity to increase her social skills.
Addie does best with large dogs that can provide a significant amount of deep pressure and that she can see running toward her (due to the decrease in visual field). We have picked out a Great Dane to be Addie's service dog and Addie has named her Tess. Tess began her service dog training at 4 weeks old and will come home with us in 2 weeks at 8 weeks old to continue her training with our family. I will be providing the training (more cost effective) with the guidance of Kawa Farms K-9 Training in Winterset, IA.
We are so excited to see the impact that Tess will have on Addie's life, but training a service dog is EXPENSIVE! We were told to expect anywhere from $10,000-$25,000 depending on the tasks that Tess needs to learn and how quickly I am able to teach them to her. I can't afford to do this alone. Please consider helping to make Addie more independent and improve her overall quality of life by donating to allow us to train her service dog. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
A service dog is individually trained to perform tasks that help the person/child be more independent. Some tasks that Addie's service dog would be trained in are: providing deep pressure to help decrease anxiety caused by over stimulation, medical appointments, crowded or loud environments, interrupt negative behaviors and self stim, improve her sleep, keep her safe while going down the stairs (she has poor coordination and falls down the stairs often) and will provide an opportunity to increase her social skills.
Addie does best with large dogs that can provide a significant amount of deep pressure and that she can see running toward her (due to the decrease in visual field). We have picked out a Great Dane to be Addie's service dog and Addie has named her Tess. Tess began her service dog training at 4 weeks old and will come home with us in 2 weeks at 8 weeks old to continue her training with our family. I will be providing the training (more cost effective) with the guidance of Kawa Farms K-9 Training in Winterset, IA.
We are so excited to see the impact that Tess will have on Addie's life, but training a service dog is EXPENSIVE! We were told to expect anywhere from $10,000-$25,000 depending on the tasks that Tess needs to learn and how quickly I am able to teach them to her. I can't afford to do this alone. Please consider helping to make Addie more independent and improve her overall quality of life by donating to allow us to train her service dog. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!