Pawsitive Service Dog Solutions, in Northern California, knows first-hand and personally, that Autism Service Dogs dramatically improve the lives of children with special needs, as well as the lives of their families. We know because we’ve experienced the blessing ourselves.
This Autism Service Dog is assisting a child in a crowded environment
It is our mission to ensure that other families challenged by Spectrum Disorders and other neurological impairments experience the same wonderful improvements that service dogs have made in our lives. We also train and place Diabetic Alert Dogs, Hypoglycemic Alert Dogs and Seizure Alert/Response Dogs as well.
HERE’S A SAMPLING OF THE THINGS WE DO:
- Raise and train service dogs for children with various special needs, particularly those with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Diabetes, and Seizure Disorders.
- Train child/parent/dog teams and place service dogs.
- Provide ongoing support to families with Pawsitive Service Dog Solutions service dogs to ensure a successful, long-term placement.
- Strive to maintain the highest standards of training and facilitate healthy relationships between service dogs, their families, and their communities.
- Educate the public about Autism Service Dogs and promote better awareness and understanding of their capabilities and the benefits they provide.
- Engage the use of volunteers in Pawsitive Service Dog Solutions activities, including fundraising, training, public awareness, and education.
- Pawsitive Service Dog Solutions is currently collaborating with Dr. Lisa Lit MA PhD, Project Scientist and Director of the Cognitive Canine Research Center in the Department of Animal Science at the University of California Davis. We are investigating how canine traits and genetic backgrounds can predict success in Autism Service Canines.
Our goal is to train and partner healthy, reliable, exclusively bred, highly-trained service dogs with individuals of all ages challenged by Autism Spectrum Disorders and other developmental disabilities, thereby providing relief, security, and a dramatically improved quality of life to the affected individual and their families.
By using a combination of funding sources, donations, fund raising, grants and scholarships, we strive to serve the needs of all individuals and families regardless of age or economic position.
The majority of our service dog placements are with children with Autism, other ASD disorders, and Developmental Disabilities. However, we will place dogs whenever possible with individuals of any age who can benefit from our dogs. This may include: other developmental challenges including ADD, ADHD, OCD, ODD, SPD (Sensory processing Disorder) and many other disabilities such as Diabetes, Down Syndrome, Hypoglycemia, and Seizure Disorders.
Our potential service dogs are selected by extensive temperament testing in the areas of intelligence, social ability, stability, and trainability.
Often when an individual receives a highly trained service dog, the impossible seems possible and things that previously were totally 
out of reach are suddenly attainable. The increased independence and quality of life afforded by a service dog can improve quality of life for everyone and provide the entire family with options that were previously unavailable.
AUTISM SERVICE DOGS:
An Autism Service Dog, also known sometimes as a Ssig Dog, can be trained to help people with Autism in many different ways.
These dogs can assist with the sensory overload people with Autism and other Developmental Disabilities frequently feel. And these amazing dogs also help calm the social fears these individuals often have. They can be trained to let a child or adult know that they are doing a repetitive
a boy with Autism is tethered to one of our Autism Service Dogs
motion so the person can stop. They help people with sensory input problems steer clear of obstacles. They may may also prevent or block children from running off. Often a child with Autism is actually tethered to the service dog for safety and security while the parent or handler holds the main leash. These Service Dogs help keep people with Autism calm when they are in strange or stressful environments.
Children challenged by Autism often speak to their service dog even when they won’t speak to adults and some children have even been known to give verbal commands to the dog when they won’t speak to anyone else.
An Autism Service Dog may halt behaviors like self harming, PICA, self stimulation, and even meltdowns and temper outbursts.
Autism Service Dogs can even be trained to sniff out gluten for individuals with gluten sensitivities. They are sometimes referred to as Gluten Detection Dogs.
Autism Service Dogs help people challenged by Autism to communicate with the world around them. Being with a service dog often helps a child lengthen his or her attention span and improves the ability to focus longer on people and tasks. Service Dogs help increase the willingness of those with Autism to communicate with others and to make improved eye contact. All of this can happen when the child or adult feels safe and secure with an Autism Service Dog.
Here is a video about Pawsitive Service Dog Solutions:
“He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion.” –Unkown author
