Special Dogs for Special Needs

Dogs are often a child’s best friend. Who can resist big dog eyes looking up at you, full of love, just waiting for you to love them back? When you are feeling a bit down, is there any better cure than a dog rubbing against your hand, wanting you to pet them?

Many dogs have an innate sense of just how to respond with children. In our therapy work, we often see the therapy dogs respond to a young or frightened child by going into a very calm down position. The dogs seem to just understand that this is what is needed. We also see the dogs “pick” the adult or child in the room that seems to need them the most. The one who is sad or depressed or upset in some way, the dog senses this and makes this individual their new ‘best friend’.

For the special needs child, the dog can serve in a therapeutic manner by serving as a social facilitator; as a symbolic vehicle for the expression of emotionally laden topics; as a focus of attention and as agents of de-arousal; as an object of attachment; as a source of social support; and as a living instrument for learning new skills, ways of thinking and behaving.

–Can Animals Help Humans Heal?  University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, July 2004

About our special dogs

The Austin Dog Alliance, Special Dogs for Special Needs program is designed to provide dogs with solid temperaments and training to families who have a special needs child or adult in the home.

A Special Dog has a solid temperament that is characterized as

Once a dog is selected based on its temperament, the dog is trained to demonstrate the following cues on a consistent basis:

The dogs are also house and crate trained.

Our special dogs are healthy and have received the following vet care:

Adopting a special dog