Therapy Dogs, Emotional Support Pets, and Companion Animals

Choosing a pet for or with a child with autism spectrum disorder shouldn’t be a rushed decision. If you’re considering getting an animal companion, you need to make sure you’re not doing this on a whim, and you need to put plenty of research and thought into the decision over a long period of time. When it comes down to it, you’re going to be responsible for this pet, their health, their well-being, and their happiness for the duration of their entire lives, so you need to make sure that you’re making the right decision for yourself and for them. Here are just a few different considerations to take into account throughout the process of looking for the best pet for autistic children.

Is this a pet or a therapy animal?

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One of the first things to consider is whether or not this animal will be a therapy animal. Are you looking for a pet or a therapy animal for your autistic child? If you are looking for a therapy animal, consider getting looking at therapy dogs. There are many docile dog breeds that make excellent therapy animals, such as golden retrievers, Labrador retrievers, and other gentle giants. What are the differences between a companion dog, a service dog, or a therapy dog?

Companion Dogs:

A companion dog is one that provides unconditional love and and friendship for your child and may be the best pet for an autistic child. Your child will learn to care for something other than themselves. Additionally caring for a pet will help with communication skills, nurturing, and social skills.

While you may be tempted to get look at rescue dogs, there may be too many unknowns for your child to go this route. It is important to know the history of the dog that your child is getting. An autism assistance dog needs to have a great temperament and be good with children. However, a companion dog is more of a family pet.

Service Dogs:

A service dog has gone through extensive training and is usually trained for someone with a disability. A service dog can be brought into public areas. These animals will go through training to assist someone with special needs with specific tasks or problems.

Service dogs help with mobility, diabetes, epilepsy, visual or hearing, and even anxiety disorders. An autism service dog is trained to help with meltdowns and self-harming behaviors. Service animals are not the best choice for a child who wanders. Do not use the dog as a set of eyes on your child or as a babysitter.

Therapy Dogs:

These trained dogs work in nursing homes, healthcare facilities, and hospitals to assist with therapy (both physical and occupational). Additionally, they can calm a patient with a medical procedure.

Emotional support animals comfort and help with fears and difficult situations. An emotional support dog may offer your child the stability they need in a public place. The positive impact this dog offers could give your child the boost they need for navigating situations that are overwhelming for them.

You and Your Child’s Lifestyle

Before choosing any pet, you need to consider your lifestyle, how a pet will impact that lifestyle and whether you will be able to give the pet you’re considering a good quality of life when they are incorporated into your lifestyle. If you and your family are busy and are never home, chances are, a pet isn’t for you and your family, no matter how independent or low maintenance you may think the animal is going to be.

If you travel a lot and are away from home a lot, again, a pet probably isn’t the right decision for you, as you shouldn’t be putting a pet into care or kennels, dropping them off to others on a routine basis. Next, you need to consider things like activity levels. If your child isn’t an active person, choosing a dog who requires hours of exercise a day isn’t going to be a good match. If you’re child is an active person, choosing a dog who prefers short walks and more time at home on their lap may not be well suited either.

Allergies

Have you spent time around the animal you’re considering getting before? All too many people take on pets or autism service dogs they’ve never been around, only to find that they have allergies. Common allergies include cat hair, dog hair, or bird feathers. Make sure that you and your child actually spent some time around the animal you’re considering getting before taking them on. You don’t want to have to rehome an animal because you didn’t check beforehand. You should also ensure that anyone you’re living with doesn’t have allergies to the pet you’re considering getting to. If you do have allergies, you may be able to get on with a more hypoallergenic pet, such as hairless cats or hairless or non-molting dog breeds.

Other Family Members

Another thing to take into account before getting any type of animal is other family members. Families of children need to take all children’s needs into account. While many dogs and cats make great companions, some people/children do not like pets in the house. If your child benefits from the company of emotional support animals, but your husband fears dogs, you obviously will have a tense household. Introducing an animal into the household needs to be a win-win for everyone involved.

Adopting vs. Buying

If you decide to go ahead and get a pet, you’re going to have two options on your hands. You can adopt a pet or you can buy a pet. Now, if you have a very specific breed of animal in mind, chances are, you may not be able to adopt it, as they may be rare and unlikely to end up in adoption homes. Additionally, if you have decided to get a service animal, you will be limited in the places you can get a good pet with a calm temperament.

For a more general choice of breeds and for more popular and common breeds, your local adoption center has what you’re looking for. Now, choosing between buying and adopting can be a difficult choice. When you buy a dog, you are generally getting a puppy, kitten, or another young animal. You will know the pet’s parents, so you will have insight into potential genetic health complaints you may need to deal with down the line.

Furthermore, you can have some insight into how big your pet may grow and its behaviors. You also raise the pet yourself, knowing its full history and experiences. When you adopt, you won’t know the pet’s full history and may have some behavioral traits due to their treatment in the past. They will have to get used to your home and your ways as a person. Put simply, adopting can be a little more difficult to start with. However, when you adopt, you give a loving home to a pet in need.

Dog Breeds

If you’re choosing a dog, you need to do a lot of research into different breeds and their temperaments, needs and characteristics. The best pet for an autistic child needs to be carefully considered. Caring for a Chihuahua is going to be a vastly different experience from looking after Lucky Labs or a Great Dane. Make sure to look into every aspect of any breed you’re considering, taking their history into account, common needs into account, and so much more. It’s advised to visit dog shows and other events where you can interact with different breeds and size them up in comparison to the life you can provide for them.

Some breeds of dogs do better with children than others. Here are some large breeds that do well with children include: Golden Retriever, Saint Bernard, Labradoodle, German Shepherd, Great Pyrenees, Old English Sheepdog, and Bernese Mountain Dog are good choices for autistic people.

If you are looking for a smaller dog, consider a beagle, a poodle, or a Bichon Frise. Whatever type of dog you get, make sure it is one of the gentle breeds that are great with children. You want great human-animal interaction to help your child.

Indoor Cats vs. Outdoor Cats

A cat may be the best pet for an autistic child if you are looking for a simple pet with low care (compared to a dog). If you’re getting a cat, you will have to decide whether to have an indoor cat or an outdoor cat. Both cats will need access to your home for sleep, rest, and play.

Generally speaking, it’s highly recommended that all cats are kept as indoor cats. First and foremost, this is important for the cat’s safety. Cats who spend time outdoors are at risk of being hit by a car, being harmed by other wildlife, or getting into accidents that could prove fatal. They are also likely to fight other cats, experiencing wounds that could result in lost eyes, damaged ears, and other issues, such as infection.

Additionally, outdoor cats often find “new families.” Cats wander, lose their collars, and people mistake them for strays and take them in.

On top of this, outdoor cats are prone to more diseases, which can be passed on from other cats and wildlife such as foxes. Finally, outdoor cats are a threat to local wildlife and ecosystems. Cats hunt for fun and don’t actually eat the animals that they prey upon. This can have a devastating impact on local wildlife such as bird populations, mice populations, and more.

Space and a Smaller Pet

Certain people feel that they can get small pets such as rodents because they don’t have much space to house a pet. Sure, cats and dogs are larger animals that do require more space than smaller creatures such as mice, hamsters, and Guinea pigs. But these smaller animals often require a lot more space than the small cages that people put them in. Bear in mind that rodents naturally walk and wander a lot in the wild. Being caged up in a small space where they can’t roam or explore can have negative impacts on their health, well-being, and overall happiness.

The same goes for fish. Too many people keep fish in inadequate bowls and tanks that don’t allow sufficient swimming and exploration.

Other aquarium tank animals may be great for a child on the autism spectrum. Salamanders, frogs and axolotls could make good pets for your child. May sure to research how much space is needed and the food they need to eat before buying any pet.

Other things to consider when choosing a small pet include the social interactions they provide. Smaller pets don’t always like being held for long periods. Your child may have a harder time holding and caring for a smaller pet. The smaller pet may make loud noises that scare your child. And the energy level of smaller pets is very high, making them a poor choice.

Other Pet Options

Sometimes you have to think outside the box when looking for the best pet for an autistic child. While dogs are a popular choice, some farm animals make great pets. There are people who have indoor pet pigs. While pigs tend to get quite large and eat a lot, there are smaller breeds that don’t get as large. Pigs are very smart and can be trained to use a litter box. A pig isn’t the right pet for every family, but many people love having a pig as a pet.

Goats also make a great pet. Our family has had Pygmy goats for over 20 years. These are the types of goats you generally see in petting zoos. These animals require an enclosed area but need less space than many people realize. Our son, Jack-Jack was afraid of the goats when he was younger, but goes out and plays with them now. He has done an amazing job, and they are generally very kid friendly.

Rabbits, ferrets, chinchillas, and other small-to-medium-sized animals could be a great choice for your family. The most important thing when choosing an animal is keeping your child’s needs in mind.

No Pet May Be the Best Pet for An Autistic Child

Sometimes, you may find that you or your child are simply not currently suited to having a pet. This is a responsible decision to make. But this doesn’t mean you can’t be around animals at all. Plenty of sites allow you to look after other people’s pets on a temporary or one-off basis. This can give you your pet fix without the full responsibility of pet ownership! Make sure that you only use reliable sites and get to know the pet and its needs before caring for it on behalf of its owner.

There are other options available as well. Animal therapy is becoming more and more popular for people with disabilities and on the autism spectrum. Equine therapy locations are springing up in every state that offers your child a way to interact with an animal without owning that animal. These horses are generally docile and have a great rapport with the children receiving the therapy.

The benefit of pets for children, learning responsibility by taking care of a pet, the human-animal bond, the emotional or medical support can be good options for your child. However, only you can make that decision.

Resources to Consider

When looking for a pet for an autistic child consider calling your local 4-H office. The County Extension office may have resources or give you names of families that can point you in the right direction. Furthermore, getting your child involved in 4-H may offer more social interactions that you may not have considered.

Choosing a pet isn’t a straightforward or simple decision, but as long as you invest plenty of research, time, and effort into finding the right pet to suit your child’s needs, you should be able to settle on the right answer for your child and for the animals involved. Hopefully, some of the above information will really help you to do the right thing!