A service dog for Evan

Hi; I’m Heather McEntarfer. Most of you know our son, Evan, who is 7 and has Down syndrome. He’s an awesome, energetic kid who loves cars, Mickey Mouse, and magnatiles. We think a service dog could be life-changing for him, and we have found a wonderful local trainer to work with. The cost for 6 months of training (some while boarding the dog) would be $13,500-$18,000 (depending on the dog we get). That’s a lot….and also, very affordable compared with the rates we would pay elsewhere in the country. We have figured out ways to cover some of the cost, but the full cost is beyond our budget right now. We don’t love asking for help, but we would so appreciate any support that you can offer.

Here are some ways a service dog could help Evan:

—With anxiety. At a doctor’s appt last week, I had to carry him into the office; he was lying on the floor, refusing to go in. As soon as we got in, he hid underneath a row of chairs, which I had to move to pull him out. He is potty trained, but had 4 accidents while we were there. He was terrified—even though this appointment was entirely non-invasive. I spent much of the appt talking to the doctor with my hand against the door to keep him in the room. We also have an appt at Children’s Hospital for this spring, to get him a dental exam under general anesthesia: he goes into full-on panic mode at the dentist, and has never had a good checkup. Last year he needed an EEG, but we couldn’t get him on the bed. He also needs a sleep study, which will be…difficult.  A service dog would go into these appointments with him; he could guide and pet the dog, which we think would both distract and calm him. Evan also has extreme anxiety related to a range of daily activities: hair cuts, taking medicine, covid tests, loud noises, etc. The dog can be trained with these specific goals in mind.

—Help with behaviors, particularly elopement (or running off). Like many children with Down syndrome, Evan seems to have an in-born need to escape wherever he is. Our house is like Fort Knox, with locks and gates everywhere. When we are out, we have him firmly by the hand at all times—he runs off, drops and refuses to continue walking, etc. Teaching him to be in the community is incredibly important to us, but often we don’t take him places because of his anxiety and these behaviors. Our reading and conversations with the trainer suggest that the dog would likely calm him, and that the joy of helping to lead the dog would likely help curb these behaviors. The dog would also alert us if Evan is running off from anywhere.

Evan absolutely adores dogs, so we feel confident that he will connect well with one. The local trainer we are working with feels confident she can find a dog that would support him. We are also working on social skills with Evan, and we’ve read about ways a service dog can help with that—partly by helping make him not “the kid who talks and acts differently,” but “the kid with the cool dog.”

We would so, so appreciate your support, and we thank anyone who is able to help.  Thank you so much,

Evan, Caroline, Leah, and Heather