copy)
Autistic Children
disorders
of service dogs, announces the successful placement of Bob, a specially
trained two and a half year old golden retriever, with the family of an
autistic child. Research shows that service dogs help autistic children better
assimilate with the world around them and can help to minimize their
personal isolation.
According to Nish Nalbandian, president of Comet Canine, “Service Dogs
can be a wonderful way to help autistic children by providing motivation,
assistance with social norming, and help learning functional tasks.”
Nalbandian and his team train service dogs to very high standards. After
an intense 2-4 month training process that Nalbandian says,” includes
every type of situation possible, both public and private,” Comet Canine
dogs are ready for their new home. But Bob’s training didn’t end there.
Lori Cruser, a top Schutzhund competition trainer and one of Comet
Canine’s professional staff trainers, flew with Bob to his new home and
spent a week doing personal training with Bob and Collin. “The personal
training sessions help acclimate both the dog and the new owner,” says
Cruser. “We teach Collin the commands that Bob has learned and we help
Bob understand that Collin is the new pack leader.”
“We love that we can take Bob anywhere with us and know that he'll do
well,” says Lise Tyrell, mother of Bob’s new owner, 11 year-old Collin
Tyrell. “The best part about Bob is that he's very well behaved and
intuitively seems to be responding to Collin's needs.” According to
Nalbandian, that’s what service dogs can do.
With the growing diagnosis of autism and related disorders in children,
Nalbandian hopes to help more families in the future. “Bob is just the most
recent dog we’ve placed in this arena.” But Nalbandian reminds us that
service dogs aren’t a one shot cure-all for autism spectrum disorders.
“Instead,” Nalbandian concludes, “the service dog should be seen as an
integral part of an ongoing therapy process designed to help the individual
in the best ways possible.”
ABOUT COMET CANINE – Located in Denver, Colorado, Comet
Canine is a professional dog training company with over 40 years of
experience handling working dogs including assistance dogs, protection
dogs, and detection dogs. Comet Canine also operates Comet Canine
MoldDog Services, specializing in the detection of mold in homes and
offices. They are on the web at www.cometcanine.com and can be reached
at info@cometcanine.com or by phone at 303.458.0240.
© MMV Robert Barron
All Rights Reserved
website design by
robco marketing services
www.nowthatsanidea.com
