Service dogs?

[InvestigatingMouse]

My son has significant PTSD and panic attacks. The thing that works the best to help him center and reorganize is our beloved dog, but he is getting old. So, we're thinking of getting him a puppy and training it as a service dog to recognize and interrupt when he panics. That way, if he decides to go away for college, or other reasons, he'll have a dog to go with him.
For a variety of reasons, we think a small dog, possibly a very small dog, makes the most sense. Dorm rooms are small. He gets a lot of places by biking, and a dog that could be harnessed into a basket would work. Small dogs are cheaper to feed. His current dog works really well and is about 20 lbs.

But I have often heard it said "I saw a dog in Target that obviously wasn't a service dog because it was a Yorkie! Yorkies can't be service dogs!" I worry that he'll run into more doubters with a little dog.

Anyway this is a long way to say that I'd love to hear about people's dogs, and particularly experiences with small breeds as service dogs.

 

[loves to dive]

I don't know about service dogs but I can tell you about yorkies. We have one. They are very smart but stubborn. They can be trained but it takes a lot of patience and they will "forget" their training a lot. They are very attached to their people. Most yorkies can not be left alone for length of time, they are very clingy. They are very picky eaters, we have one - my in-laws have one and my son has a yorkie-poo. All three have days when they won't eat anything and ours and my in-laws will only eat real chicken. We have trained ours to eat dry food (we leave it in her bowl all the time so she can free range eat if she wants) and she gets canned food once a day just because chicken doesn't have all the nutrients she needs. They can have a lot health issues. Ours is only 9 years old and she already has bad knees and hip joints and is going (or has gone) blind in one eye. A lot of them have what is called reverse sneezing where it sounds like they are coughing or can't breathe. Small dogs often have what is called small dog syndrome, they know they are small so the over compensate by turning mean. You can train them where this won't happen but, again, stubborn little creatures. Ours wouldn't bite a person if her life depended on it and only nips at the in-laws dogs if they get on her nerves too much. She is shy around all other dogs.

On the flip side, they pretty much love all people and are very friendly. Ours has never met anyone she doesn't like. We spoil her rotten because she is just so easy to spoil.

 

[tetera]

Could you get another breed like the one you have already? From a PTSD perspective, we had to go with a breed of dog that that we were already familiar with "pre-trauma" in case of episodes around an "unrecognizable" dog....

 

[Fitzwoman27]

The temperament matters more that the breed. If you find a good BICHON BREEDER , they can do a temperament test. It’s the training that really matters and the breed is small, smart and very trainable.

 

[DisneyOma]

My son has significant PTSD and panic attacks. The thing that works the best to help him center and reorganize is our beloved dog, but he is getting old. So, we're thinking of getting him a puppy and training it as a service dog to recognize and interrupt when he panics. That way, if he decides to go away for college, or other reasons, he'll have a dog to go with him.
For a variety of reasons, we think a small dog, possibly a very small dog, makes the most sense. Dorm rooms are small. He gets a lot of places by biking, and a dog that could be harnessed into a basket would work. Small dogs are cheaper to feed. His current dog works really well and is about 20 lbs.

But I have often heard it said "I saw a dog in Target that obviously wasn't a service dog because it was a Yorkie! Yorkies can't be service dogs!" I worry that he'll run into more doubters with a little dog.

Anyway this is a long way to say that I'd love to hear about people's dogs, and particularly experiences with small breeds as service dogs.

I think a bigger dog would be better at "interrupting" a panic attack? I would think it would be easy to ignore a smaller dog, but a larger dog would be able to lean into the person, etc. A larger dog could handle rougher treatment (not too rough to hurt, of course)

I'm glad you mention the training to recognize and perform a task - so many people talk about their dog as being a "service dog" when they are acting as comfort dogs, untrained and task-less.

 

[mamabunny]

Personally, I would avoid a smaller breed if your child is going to live on campus, and then later live independently. I would want my child to have a dog that is capable of handling a long, grueling daily schedule like many college students have. Obviously, a dog that can hold focus well, is not susceptible to some of the health conditions that can plague both the largest dogs as well as the smallest dogs. And yes, a dog that “looks” like a service dog, mostly because he will have to deal with the doubters, and a dog that meets that perception tends to be taken more seriously by people of all kinds, from other students/co-workers, professors, administrators, managers, medical personnel and the general public.

I know you want to set him up for success, and I know you are hyper-aware of how the world can be for him. Perhaps consult with the folks who will be handling the training with his dog - explain where is his now, as well as where he will be (university and then on his own). They are your experts; they can help find exactly the right animal for your child.