Support Uroš to have fully trained service dog

Hello everyone,

I'm Uroš please read and share my story

Uros is our fourth child , he is 7 years old non-verbal and was diagnosed with ASD (autism spectrum disorder) and ADHD . We moved from Serbia- Belgrade 6 years ago in Canada. He's an awesome kid. Uros is incredibly smart and loves to learn. He's sweet kind and he's always smiling. He's also very impulsive and has no fear. That combination is common among autistic kids and can be incredibly terrifying for us as parents and school.

Uros has a habit of eloping and has ended up in circumstances that had the potential to become fatal. For those not familiar with ASD, elopement is the term used to describe when a person with ASD unexpectedly runs or wanders off from their caregivers or a safe location. A 2012 article published in the Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics found that 49% of autistic children attempt to elope at least once after age 4. 26% of those kids were missing long enough to cause serious concern. Of those that went missing, 65% were in danger of a traffic injury,

and another 24% were in danger of drowning.

Here's Uroš story when he elope in September 26th 2023 CBC.CA/News&Winnipeg free Press

We will be the one to raise the puppy and it will be trained by professional trainer.

And this dog will be his Guardian angel for next 10 years.

While out in public, wandering can be prevented by utilizing a tether system in which the dog wears a harness that a tether/leash is attached to for the child to wear or hold. Note: the primary leash is always in the parent's hand and the parent must have complete control over the service dog at all times. Sometimes the child just holding the second leash is enough to give the child security and a boundary, so you see reduced attempts to wander. However, for some children or at certain times, if something catches their eye or they become upset they may still dart off. In these cases we attach the leash to something the child is wearing such as a belt or backpack so the child is able to walk freely next to the dog, but if attempting to wander the dog will be able to act as an anchor.

Service dog can be trained specifically to respond to a child's repetitive behaviors, either by the parent's command or by using the behavior the child engages in to trigger a response from the dog. For example, the behavior of a child that jumps and flaps their hands in front of their face has been used as a hand signal for the dog to place their paw on the child. Or if a child were to be hitting their head, the service dog could learn to recognize that as a cue to gently nudge the child. Additionally, if the child were repeating a phrase over and over, a parent could command the service dog to go over and nudge or touch the child. Note: although service dogs are highly trained, they are still dogs and do not have the ability to have higher judgement reasoning to interpret an environment as either safe or dangerous (ie: stop the child from going into a street if a car is coming, from touching a hot stove, preventing or alerting if the child leaves their bed, etc). Often the deep bond that the child forms with the service dog to be more easily redirected from behaviors due to the positive redirection.

While we are applying for grants, service dogs are extremely expensive. We ask if you can please donate and help with this life-saving animal not only for Uroš but for our entire family.

First of all, we want to thank everyone who helped us achieve our goal, which is to get Uros a Service dog. We want to inform you that we are at the very beginning, but that the dog has been bought and is placed in our home. We will raise the dog and the trainer will come to train him once a week for the next year and a half. We chose another way, which will be very challenging for us, but it will be a little cheaper. The reason is that the dog will grow together with Uros. We now have to collect money for trainings which will be for the next 18 months approximately between $5000 to $7000, Spay/neuter surgical between $400-$700, TLC pet food for next 18 months $750-$1000, wellness check ups, veterinarian, harness etc.

We thank you from the bottom of our hearts and will keep you updated on the progress.

We truly appreciate your support and generosity

May God bless you and prayers are requested if you're unable to donate.

I want to thank everyone for the time to read our story!