Posted: March 15 2009 at 10:05am | IP Logged

the trainers may have changed but if Pris Taylor still runs the organization I would be very wary.  There are many options in the NW that are a 1/3 the price and raise dogs specifically for special needs kids (screened for temprament). 

Dave

Posted: October 07 2009 at 4:02pm | IP Logged

I hope those of you looking for service dogs for your children see this message.  I know of a wonderful place to get a dog for your child.  My son is diagnosed as PDD/NOS and we got him a dog from Canine Companions for Independence a year ago. 

They train the dogs, and then you go through a two week class at one of their facilities to learn how to give the dog commands, correct them, take care of them and everything else you need to know.  When you get a dog from Canine Companions for a child, the adult is the one giving the commands and the dog is considered a skilled companion, but still has public access rights if you complete their training and testing.  They were one of the first, if not the first service dog organization affiliated with Assistance Dogs International, and are very skilled and professional in what they do. 

The only thing we were required to pay for during this entire process, was our trip to their facility and food while we were down there.  I don't know if all of their facilities have a place for people to stay, but the one we were at had dorm type rooms so we didn't pay for a hotel.  I don't know if anything has changed due to the economy, but we did not have to pay for the dog. 

All I can tell you is that our experience with Canine Companions for Independence has been amazing.  We had a wonderful time at our training, met amazing people, and have experienced wonderful changes in my son over the past year since being home.  Please look into that organization if you are looking for a service dog for your child.  Feel free to write me a message if you have any questions.

Amy

Posted: January 12 2010 at 10:49am | IP Logged

Sorry to disagree, but FIREFIEND's post here on this board, indicates that I may not be the only one who has been wronged by this organization.

Not for profit or not, the facts are simple:

We paid $12,000 for a service dog that had aggressive behaviors and bit my wife.  When we returned the dog, only half of our money was refunded.

We went on to purchase a service dog from Joys of Living (Salem, OR) for $3500 that had been screened for temperament prior to the start of training (picked as a puppy not as a rescue dog as was done at ASDA).  The new animal is perfectly suited for children who can be "hard" on animals.

It sounds as though, through your post, ASDA has made some positive changes to the way they select and train their animals. Glad to hear that things are getting better.  However, other providers in the community are providing animals for much lower cost now, and for families that have children on the spectrum, budgets are very tight.  Investing this kind of capital into an animal that is supposed to help your special needs child will ultimately put the provider under more scrutiny.  ASDA, at the time of the incident, made a choice to keep our money and write letters to donors that publicly humiliated us during the process.  That decision resonates in these posts. 

As a business person myself, we are all defined by our actions.  ASDA had a chance to reconcile a bad situation and did not.  That is bad business.  As a consumer it is my moral responsibility to discuss the situation with others so that these situations do not affect the innocent.

Posted: February 21 2010 at 10:45pm | IP Logged

I am a parent of an adult son with Aspergers syndrome and a grandmother of 2 children diagnosed under the spectrum.  I have been engaged in one form or another with autism for 22 years.

Five years ago I began breeding labradoodles.  If you are not aware, these dogs were developed in Australia to be an allergy friendly service dog.  I was immediately impressed with their intelligence but also how intuitive a dog could be to a human!  It's amazing!

Most of my dogs go to Holland.  In Holland I have been studying how many of my dogs are used with children with Autism.  It is the trend to now get a dog as a young puppy and to work with a trainer, but to train the dog in your home, having your autistic child highly involved in the training.  The miracles I have seen are awesome. 

Not only are we seeing excellent results, the cost is much less than I am hearing about on this forum and across the U.S.

Of course, this means the family must be committed to work!  The 9 week old puppy enters the home and needs basic training... which the autistic child is engaged in helping.  It's a committment, but it really works!

We will have dogs and training available in the fall of 2010.  This is private training in your home.  Please let me know if you have interest and would like more information.  We are an Oregon based breeding and training facility.

Posted: March 08 2010 at 2:04am | IP Logged

Please read our experience with "4 Paws for Ability" here:

http://tylersdog.webs.com/4pawsforability.htm

I cannot express here enough the heartache and frustration Karen Shirk has created for us.  She has a scam that works and we fell for it....