Pet Dogs

With these bubbly, cuddly beauty’s, they are probably going to be the best bet in the more severely afflicted of autism or Aspergers Syndrome. Unlike almost any other creature and pet, puppies and dogs are fundamentally going to extract and pull out from an inward focused individual all manner of good re-active behavior – and the best part? – it will be virtually involuntary.

Dogs inherently are an even more physical entity than cats yet every bit as delightfully captivating.

Intensely enthusiastic and glued to every nuance that their owners evince, dogs will not judge and have no qualitative level of comparing or perceiving what one human has in verbal or social lack of communication over another. They simply want to attach themselves faithfully to whomever touches them and begins caring for them.

But the inescapable advantage of having a dog as a pet for special needs individuals is that they will as a matter of course cause that person to become more active as against any other normal pet in existence. The sheer walking, running, playing, power, stamina, distance required and exhibited by them will leave no doubt that this is undeniably a heavily physical proposition. This being the case the prospective owners must carefully consider what level the human companion is capable of keeping up with.

A small, perky Sydney Silky for instance might be vastly easier and less physically demanding than say a Great Dane yet the payback can be proportionately enormous in having the Dane because it automatically draws in the person to an even higher level of physical involvement.

Male autistic children may particularly benefit from the larger dogs and one might also consider the breeds of Labrador Retrievers, German Shepherds or any mixed breed with a stable, gentle nature that would provide robust, active engagement. This is key to understanding that sheer physicality can have great impact in pulling the person outwards rather than placating attentions that are focused inward. Physical impulses are acted upon when engaging with dogs as like no other and this certainly goes even for autistic children.

These responses to play, react and eventually walk and run the dogs become in themselves avenues of growth in patterns that start to stretch the accepted routine.

When the dog changes the walking route for example or any routine or does things not perfectly scripted – and they will – unbeknownst to the child the animal has drawn the person into accepting that ‘unexpected’ changes in everyday life can take place without trauma, fear or anxiety- indeed they are usually fascinating fun for the child.

Furthermore, dogs have a place that cannot be matched by even by cats. With a light hearted apology to feline lovers and owners, dogs can be trained almost like ones own personal robot far beyond what cats can match in similar tests.
For the purpose of our discussion, this can have great facility for the autistic or Asperger child or adult.

Intellect is usually just fine and intact to understand that the dearly loved pet needs to be shown and trained and walked through a regimen and doted on unto success. This is entirely conducive and beneficial to the persons growth as a well rounded individual – it stretches the boundaries beyond ‘self’ to helping with something ‘outside’ of what is usually locked inwards.

The joy and satisfaction that a special needs person derives in the successful accomplishment of training a dog will be a moment that one cannot put a price on.

Pet Dogs