Succinctly, my six year old granddaughter has CHD and some other physical disabilities. Additionally and the purpose of this thread, she has also been diagnosed with Autism Level 2 with a generalized anxiety disorder and severe intellectual delay.

It's been recommended that she be provided a trained service animal (dog) to help her deal with daily anxieties and life, etc. Among other things, my daughter is concerned about how they can afford this type of highly trained animal (dog) given their other expenses but this is where I will step in.

I have no experience nor do I know anyone else who has dealt with service animals for Autistic kids or adults like my granddaughter. I'm just beginning my research today.

I thought I'd ask the forum for any advice or recommendations based on your experience and what to expect in cost, training and integration and general expectations with service animals. Thank you.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: 2PAK,

quote:

Originally posted by 2PAK:
... It's been recommended that she be provided a trained Comfort dog ...

By whom? How is she around untrained animals? My son gets anxiety from dogs. Any dog.

Hopefully, she is seeing a Clinical Psychologist in order to make this diagnosis. I would think the professional making this suggestion would have a referral source in mind. Typically, one does not make treatment reccomendatons without thinking of a referral source.

There is a big difference between trained service dogs and emotional support animals.

My mistake, it's going to be a trained service animal. A dog was brought in as part of her assessment.

If a service dog is recommended by her Dr. I'm guessing they can provide information on qualified providers.

All in all the cost of service dog training can vary from $7000, which includes training them to perform basic tasks, to $20,000 for more intensive training. As an example the average cost of training a dog from Guide Dogs for the Blind runs about $30,000 – fortunately their clients are not charged this full amount.

There are often funding sources available for many people. Again, check with the Doctor who suggested this.

I know nothing about Autism/Anxiety service dogs.

With that said a very food friend from college had a child born with type one diabetes. They ended up getting a service dog that could tell when blood sugar levels went bad by smell.

They couldn't afford such a dog but did fundraising and other community events to raise the money.

I would talk to the person that recommends the dog. Find any and all resources and do your homework. I wish I had more specific information but it can be done you get need to talk to the right people, become informed and do some work yourself.

I wish you the best. A trained dog can make a huge difference in a child's life.

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
All in all the cost of service dog training can vary from $7000, which includes training them to perform basic tasks, to $20,000 for more intensive training. As an example the average cost of training a dog from Guide Dogs for the Blind runs about $30,000 – fortunately their clients are not charged this full amount.

There are often funding sources available for many people. Again, check with the Doctor who suggested this.

Most service dogs are trained by their persons. There’s a conflict between people that train their service animals and the businesses that train and sell service animals.
The question is “What service will the animal be trained to do?” In many cases it’s alerting the person before they know there’s a problem. I’m around one service dog that nags me when my blood sugar gets low.
Please look at what services are needed and see if local training is an option.

Please check with Canine Companions for Independence.

They provide service dogs and are a terrific source of information.