Well we have got a new puppy his name is Bully he is a full blood  Boxer puppy. He is awesome, smart and loves Brandon.

I have never seen a dog that took to someone as Bully has. The other day his brother came to visit and Bully played with him until he came near Brandon then Bully growled at him and barked and tried to make him go away. When the other dog went on Bully snuggled up to Brandon like that is what I thought  lol. I love that that feeling you have when you know you can trust a animal with your child .So I looked up some information for people on article about dogs and special needs children. I think everyone should get a animal for their child.

Hope you enjoy and I will try to get more pitcures of them so you can go awwwhhh lol.

 http://www.parenthood.com/article-topics/how_animals_help_children_with_special_needs.html

Dogs for Companionship and Service

While dolphins and horses have important physical and emotional benefits, they cannot live with a child. Dogs can.

Dogs specially trained to work with the disabled offer many different services. They can guide people who are visually impaired, alert people who are hearing impaired to specific sounds, get help when a person has a seizure, as well as retrieve dropped items, open doors, and assist the person with balance.

“Dogs also provide companionship that is critical to the development of children with disabilities,” says Elcock.

Canine Assistants is a Georgia-based organization that trains dogs – primarily labradors and golden retrievers – to help children and adults across the country with physical disabilities resulting from muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy, automobile accidents and other causes. The dogs are provided free of charge to qualified recipients all over the country.

These dogs can do some remarkable tasks for their disabled handlers. They can turn lights on with their noses and off with their teeth, and even open doors that have been appropriately adapted. Once they go home with a participant, they can build on the skills they have learned and accomplish even more specific tasks – even helping with the laundry or making a bed, says Kellie Mann, programs coordinator for Canine Assistants.

In several instances, Canine Assistants’ service dogs have used their training on flipping a light switch to flip a ventilator switch back on, thus saving their human companion’s life.

The dogs enable children to gain independence and confidence by being with them all the time. Mann cites several examples:

• A child with a seizure disorder who never went out in public alone started to go out because she wasn’t “alone” anymore.

• A child who walked with braces gained increased confidence to do things on her own when she had both the dog and the braces to help stabilize her.

These dogs also offer children and parents more freedom from each other. Elcock cites a 1996 study that revealed “the presence of a dog results in a significantly reduced number of hours of paid and family-provided assistance needed for the activities of daily living.”

But a service dog isn’t the solution for everyone, Elcock cautions. “Before considering a service dog for their child, parents should consider the nature of their child’s disability, the child’s personality and the added responsibility of having a service animal in the family.”

The Delta Society has developed professional standards for dog trainers (see Resources), and recommends that parents do their homework on any service-dog trainer’s qualifications.

Thanks to successful fund-raising efforts, Canine Assistants gives away between 60 and 70 dogs each year during five two-week training camps. Mann says people often cry when they inquire about the dogs and discover they are free. The actual cost per dog is almost $19,000, including training, board, feeding, veterinary care and the cost of bringing the recipient to Georgia. Canine Assistants, like many service-dog training organizations, currently has a waiting list of clients.

Many children will have disabilities for the rest of their lives, but working with animals can give them the motivation, physical therapy, comfort, companionship and confidence that often leads to real progress in their abilities.

“Kids can do a lot more than we think they can,” Nathanson says.