# Service Dogs for Young Children



## ILGHAUS (Nov 25, 2002)

_This post (mine) was originally in another thread but as the OP had began her thread with speaking about dogs for adults I later decided to start another thread. _Sorry for any confusion caused with quotes from there.

Thread from where the quotes in this post came from. http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/guide-therapy-service-dogs/153870-autism-serivce-dogs.html

*It may help in discussions if everyone trys to remember not to "compare apples to oranges" in other words try to keep thoughts on if discussion is on very young children where some may be 4 or 5 years old or older possibly teens in the 15 or 16 year old range or even if the discussion is about adults. *
-----------------------------------------------------------------------



> usually the parents or if high functioning and old enough the child takes the dog to potty


Thanks  but my main question is if not the parents or if the child is not old enough - you can't allow a 5 year old to leave class with his dog and go outside alone - to potty the dog then who does see to the dog's care? None of the articles or none of the parents or organizations that I have asked is ever able/willing to answer this one especially if it involves who pays for this person.

Is the school system expected to pay for a doggy care person? Many if not most systems are cutting down programs as it is so do parents expect the system to pay a person to be on hand for this? Who is the 3rd party of the team if mom or dad has to work or have other committments? When they sign up do mom or dad plan on sitting every day with the child and dog or do they assume the school will supply someone? These type of questions and planning is probably *one* of the items that has schools against SDs for young children even though many people hearing about this dragging of the heels assume the school is only worried about alergies. 



> but normally it is the parent


I have never read on any of the websites or in any articles or posted applications where this is stated so is this something that is told to the parents after they apply to add their child to the waiting list? None of the parents that I have spoke to seem to be sure on this either or even seem to have given it any thought. A couple just assumed the school had "someone". 

I did read in one article where several teacher aides were told they were going to have to go through some training to learn how to handle the SD to help the child. What if they didn't want to deal with the dog? Not everyone is a dog lover. Maybe as an aid or helper they only want to work with children. So that goes to how long is this training and is it on their own time or when they would normally be working in the classroom? Is there a charge for the training and again who would pay for that? 

If the parents have to pay then their costs are really going up fast -- payroll (taxes and benefits also) for dog care and handling, special training class and I'm wondering if this training is generic or one training class is expected to fit all dog teams? Does any type of insurance kick in to help with this? OR -- again is the school system expected to absorb these addition costs?

Just because a dog is certified, trained, approved by an organization they are still dogs. While Lassie and Rin Tin Tin never had to potty or seldom had other doggy issues these dogs do. They need care and guidance while working and for a younger child I am trying to find out who bottomline is responsible.


----------

