Parents of autistic children feel duped by puppy trainer

[responsiblek9]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-autism-service-dogs-20120208,0,7343554.story
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Chicago Tribune -
•Although Animals for Autism claimed 25 years of experience in training service dogs, parents could find only one family in possession of such a dog.

[Roxie]

Uh huh!    Remember the woman who was considering using this organization? Aren't these the mini huskies (Klee Kai's???)

She used the Pepsi money to make improvements to her property ..... maybe under the guise of helping the poor little children with Autism.

[minivangirl]

That was me. And it is my family that was pictured. Thanks to you all here, we knew that everything about this company was nothing but red flags. We are the family mentioned that pulled out of the organization back in August.

[Kirsten]

I am so very sorry this happened to you.  There are far too many scam artists out there ready to take advantage of people and in particular people in need.  I don't know how they can sleep at night.

[minivangirl]

We will keep up the fight, and with luck, this one won't be able to scam anyone else.

[Kellynbobellen]

Wow, I just cant comprehend how someone is capable of this type of fraud!  Not only doing it, but how did they think they could get away with it?  Im so sorry that you are having to deal with this!  Are you on the waiting lists at any other training facilities?

[minivangirl]

We are just starting to take baby steps toward applying with training facilities. We still feel pretty burned by this. We have a beautiful rescued lab that we have been taking to a private trainer in hopes that she might work out, but she is most likely not going to be able to. She is an amazing in home ESA, and I can't imagine our lives without her, but she's a goof in public.

Right now we are just doing lots of research and taking it very slowly.

[Magesteff]

In the general dog population I think research was that only about 1 in 100 dogs are able to handle the stresses of Service work. Programs have a better average with their breeding programs but that is because they have a lot more control over the parents and over how the puppies are raised.

WHile you can find good dogs at the Humane society, and several people have owner trained rescued dogs, you are really taking a chance on them because you will not know the history of the dog and there can be events in the dog's life that might affect how the dog reacts and works. This is why you see so many here recommending that you get the help of a professional trainer and a behaviorist to evaluate these dogs before you take them home, and why it is recommended that you use a professional trainer if you do not have a dog training background yourself.

I'm sorry your first dog can't handle public access, but glad that at least at home she is a help.