Hello, I'm new- my autistic son is ready for "lunch" :)

[margomouse]

Hi,
I just found this site and am so very excited. Currently, we have a 9 month old female maltese named Cricket- she's so cute- learning tricks fast this last week- I had extra time off of work. I have 2 sons with autism. We have a lot of pets- I love birds, cats, fish and of course dogs. I look forward to being in this community so I can further cricket's education :doglaugh:

 

[CollieMan]

Welcome to the DTA. Quite a mix of pets you have there!

 

[margomouse]

Yeah, I love pets. Did I mention the 5 jumbo hermit crabs? I love the trick you are working on- sounds very useful- we'll have to tackle that sometime

 

[margomouse]

Wow! I just looked at all of your awards. That is really impressive- makes sense after seeing all of those- you would be the first one to greet me. Congratulations on your dedication, knowledge, loyalty and all of those other qualities you have so aptly displayed.

 

[Jean Cote]

HI Welcome to the Academy!!!! :dogsmile: Hermit crabs are cool I used to have tiny ones in my salt water aquarium. Although they are bad with corals hehehe.

 

[margomouse]

Thanks- these hermit crabs were a kind of rescue- they are about the size of baseballs ! I was once pinched by one a little smaller- and oh my goodness- these dudes appear happy in their crabitat and probably won't be hanging out on my hand too aweful much. My little girl cricket- is also happy in her Cricketatat (cool new word- a little bulky perhaps- but looks really cool written out She just reminds me of what is all good and cool with dogs. Lays by my feet- sleeps with me- protects me from evil things like that darn maltese puppy on the sliding glass door which bears more than a little similiarity to herself

 

[terese]

Hi Margomouse,

How are your sons getting along with your new puppy? I've just started training my young golden to be a therapy dog. One of the volunteer opportunities is working with autistic children. This really interests me and I'd be curious to know what kinds of dog behaviors intrigue your boys.

 

[margomouse]

That is sooo cool

That is so awesome that you are training for an autism assistance dog. (I don't know if that's the official name or not). we looked into doing that, but - and understandingly so- you have to commit to raise big bucks. We had a golden retriever that Drew (he's 7 and is probably mod-severe autism) loved. She was so very patient and kind with him. Unfortunately, I didn't have the time to devote to training her to be the best dog she could've been. I work full-time and then about 10-15 in addition to the 40 hours already. And Drew is very intense, has to be watched constantly- if left alone even for a few minutes- a disaster is in the making- so I didn't have the time that Dixie needed. She was excellent at fetch, and Drew loved that. She loved the boys- ideally I would have trained her to help alert if Drew left the house alone. He's been known to do that and wander off. YIKES!!! Calls to 911 etc... I have heard that some assistance dogs also go to public places with the kids. I rarely take Drew shopping, the opportunities for him to wander off in Wal-mart- ever heard of something called a "code adam." That's the wal-mart term for missing child. I know, because it's happened to me. It is so very scarey, again if he had an assistance dog- that would help. I have also heard of the dogs being used to promote speech with kids with autism. Like "say sit Dixie." Then the child would say, "sit Dixie."