Service Dog Training

Meet Rain. He’s a handsome and energetic puppy that just happened to join our family by fate. We have been talking about wanting to get our autistic 6 year old daughter a service dog for a while now. We currently have two senior dogs that sadly may not be with us for much longer. We’ve talked about a replacement dog which led us to getting Aubree a service dog to help her on a daily basis.

Update: we lost our eldest senior dog in November. It’s been an adjustment not having him at home. 

We’ve been doing some research trying to find all the ifs/ands, making sure to cross our i’s and t’s, pricing, and best places in our area for training for an Autism Service Dog. We were even talking about the best breed to get for her. Which we landed on a Labrador. We had some places that the application process wouldn’t open up until next year. And others we just couldn’t afford right away. This was something that was still in the talking phase.

However, one Saturday my husband had to work. Visiting one of the job sites he found this scared puppy. We went back and forth on the phone about whether to bring him home or not. We already have two dogs and we’re not fully prepared at the moment for another. Of course he brought him home and it was the best decision. He turned out to be a puppy, perfect exactly what we wanted since it’s cheaper for training if we already have a dog. He seems to be a lab/pit mix. Also great because a lab puppy is what we actually wanted as a service dog.

We posted on multiple pages about finding him and there were no responses. We had him checked for a microchip and there was none. Aubree quickly got attached to him and named him Rain, she’s obsessed with thunderstorms. She calls him Rain Rasins, her favorite snack.

since no one claimed him we decided it was meant to be. He’s already showing signs of comforting Aubree when her anxiety is high. He’s helped calm her through some behaviors as well. Aubree isn’t one to really want dogs near her. She likes them in the same room but not really being pressed against her. With Rain she doesn’t mind. He’s the first dog that we have actually seen her get attached to. Even though she’s had two dogs living with her her whole life. She still freaks out when he starts jumping around or makes a fast movement that she isn’t expecting. Which is why training is important.

We’ve learned that Rain is very easy to train, when he’s not hyper being a puppy. Now we want to get him in classes to get the proper training that he needs for Aubree and to get the proper paperwork for him. Anything that can be donated would be greatly appreciated. It will all go towards his training and any supplies that he or Aubree would need to continue his education.