moodychick

Please don't get me wrong... I'm NOT offering parenting advice here , just saying that I don't think it's reasonable what you are expecting from a dog. That is not what i would expect froma normal dog JJ lol. That is the sort of things that Righteous Pups train the Autism Assistance dogs for. And yes, we are always one step behind him at the beach and down the street etc etc. But because he isnt our only child it can make things a little difficult. If i turn away from him for 2 seconds to talk to my daughter he can be gone! And i am not talking about leaving him out in the backyard on his own lol. But you know alot of kids you can leave them in teh backyard while you go in side to get a drink, or to go to the toilet? Well i cant do that with Nathan. If i have to go inside to get a drink, i have to bring him in with me, and OMG the tantrums! All we want from a normal dog is companionship and love for Nathan :D Even now, if i go outside for a smoke, I have to stand right at the door where i can see him, because otherwise he will climb the gate and get into the cupboards, or do other things. If i go to the toilet, and hes in the loungeroom, i have to lock the front door before i go. We have had to install special locks on all our windows so that he cant open them. During Summer its absolute hell trying to keep him away from open windows. We have had him climb up a chest of drawers, using the handles as steps, to play in the fish tanks! Now the top of these fish tanks is level with my head, but he climbs up and plays with the fish :S Moves the lid and everything. There are a whole range of things i could tell you about how he puts himself in danger........But the more i say, the more i start to feel like an irresponsible parent, which i am not. Lets just say that nathan has no fear! and leave it at that. But i am not silly enough to expect anything other then companionship and love from a dog. However the Autism assistance dogs are trained for these types of situations!

Ok Well i contacted Righteous pups. They told me that they cant actually recommend a dog, because if they recommended a breed of dog, and we went and got one, and something went wrong then we could sue them But she said just send us an email, tell us a little bit about your son, and we will send you an information pack. So i have sent the email, now just to wait back I figure the worst they can do is say no.........but the difference in our lives if they said yes would be absolutely amazing!!! Not having to sit outside in the hot sun every second hes out in the back yard, making sure he doesnt climb the fence. Not having to worry that he has worked out how to open the gate on the driveway. Being able to take him to the beach, and not being one step behind him at all times! Being able to take a shower, and not having to lock him in his room so that he doesnt unlock the door and escape off down teh road. Knowing that if he does somehow get out, that the dog could track him. A best friend for him, that could help calm him down when he has a meltdown. A friend who likes to play with him, no matter what he says, or how silly he acts! Not having to have him locked in the loungeroom like a jail cell, so that he doesnt get into something, because he can undo all the child safe locks. Or worrying that he has pulled a chair over to unbolt the door and gone walkabout, or out the window! It could make a hugeeeeee difference to our lives! And if they say no? Well we just keep looking for a potential best friend for him!!!

We have been looking at breeders JJ. Had the secretary of the Mini Foxie Club tell us that even if she had any pups she wouldnt sell one to us. Haven't been able to find local breeders. Won't buy from interstate as we want Nathan to meet any pup or dog we are looking at buying before making a commitment. Have had a few people tell us that we are looking at the wrong breeds of dog, and that we should look at larger dogs. Had a friend who breeds Golden Retrievers tell us they wouldn't be suitable. He was nice about it though There is a woman in Ballarat, who has just mated her bitch, and said she will contact us in a few months if pups result. We don't seem to be having much luck at the moment lol. There isn't a huge hurry to buy, but at this stage we would at least like to look at a few different breeds so we can see how Nathan reacts to size etc. We know what we want, but we also know they may not be suitable. And we also know what we dont want! So its a matter of just getting Nathan out to meet other dogs, and talking to their owners etc. I am also trying to get onto Righteous pups, but every time i ring its an answering machine, so i will keep trying them as well. We want to keep our options open, which is where the RSPCA comes in.

Yeah i knew she wasn't what we wanted Mawson, but I just wanted to see how Nathan would react to a puppy. I want to get a feel for how he relates to pups, and older dogs, and what sort of dog he likes. A staffie is definitely bigger then what we are after, And i dont particularly like them personally. I was just hoping that we could have a look at a few dogs down there. Definitely interested in foxies and jack russells, prefer a dog with a short coat. We definitely arent going to give up on that avenue though. Would love to give a dog a home from the RSPCA rather then buying one through a backyard breeder. I'm not sure of the name of the girl who served me, She was young though with short black hair. Quite a nice girl, i just think i mustnt have explained what i wanted clearly enough. I had thought that we would be able to actually go through and look at all the dogs, not just have them bought out to us. I know its mainly kelpies and cattle dogs there at the moment, but i still just wanted to see how he would react to them. Shall keep my eyes peeled on the web site though

The Visit didnt go so well unfortunately Janet I rang before we went down there, and explained that i wanted him to be able to look at all the dogs, and if possible have a play so we could see if there was one certain one that he liked. I also said i would like to have a look at one of the pups. She said that was fine and to bring him down. So we went down there, and she bought out one of the pups, named Coco Pops. Gorgeous little brindle puppy, while we were waiting for her to come out, a border collie cross was taken past, and nathan loved it and had a quick pat as it went past. But when the pup came out, he wasnt interested at all :S Was more interested in the dogs outside the window lol. Sashia loved the pup, and she adored her in return. In the end Nathan came over to have a pat of Coco, but Coco got all excited and jumped up to kiss his face, and unfortunately her paw got him right under the eye So we came home from the visit with a very crying nathan, who had 2 big scratches down his cheek saying he wants a puppy that doesnt have claws lol. We didn't even get to have a look at any dogs besides the pup She said ok, sorry we couldnt help, and then went and put the pup away She did say that they dont often get little dogs coming through, and to just keep my eye on the website which ive been doing daily anyway.

We are heading down for a visit to the RSPCA shortly :D Just to see how Nathan goes with the dogs and pups there, and see if there is any certain type that he prefers :D

Got you tlc

Hi Mawson, nice to meet you. We have been looking at the RSPCA for a while now, but it seems to be all kelpies etc there. Have been in a couple of times I keep an eye on the website for Warrnambool and Portland, but nothing as yet! We did actually want an RSPCA pup to begin with, but when we were unable to find one we started looking at different options. So if there is a small dog that comes in.....we would love to take a look at him or her! We just want a small dog, to be with Nathan, and one that gets along with Scruffy. Small dogs are easier to take when we go away on holidays etc lol. If i had my way, honestly, i would be getting a Rotti! But hubby keeps telling me no, it has to be a small dog, and then later on down the track i can get my rotti.......sigh......the joys of young kids! Just as my daughter is now old enough to handle a bigger dog, Nathan comes along and changes the plans lol.

Would love to meet you janet, with or without dogs. And i can understand them loving their family and 7 acres lol. I wish some days i had room like that to let nathan run off some of his energy, and then scruffy wouldnt have to beg to escape from too much play hehehe. Its really just an experiment to see if he takes an interest in certain dogs, big or small and that sort of thing. We already know he loves scruffy, unfortunately scruffy doesnt love him back so much! Unless of course there are food scraps being handed through the fence.....

Hi Moody Chick! I have a Boxer boy I would be happy for your little man to meet, he's a tad boisterous, but some vigorous exercise before they meet should minimise his excitement. Also have a friend with a 6 month old Boxer pup, so maybe a more suitable size and not quite so boisterous. We get together a few times a week to socialise the dogs (and ourselves!) You are more than welcome to join us at any stage. Boisterous is ok Chatabox! I don;t know what sort of interest he will take if any lol, which is why i want to find out :D Would it be ok if i bought my foxy x as well? Theres no hurry :D The foxy x is welcome to join us too! The more the merrier. We usually organise our "play dates' around the weather, we try to get out most nice days, but stay in when the weather is inclement. We are in the midst of moving house this week, but once settled in the new house would be happy for you to come visit us at home, or meet you at the dog park at Harris Street Reserve. I'll just need to organise my friend to be there too if you'd like to meet the younger boxer. My pup wont be moving in for a week or so, although if she's arrived she'd be great for your little man to meet as well. I usually get on Facebook more often than here, so might be easier to let you know a date, time and place on there. Just let me know your Facebook profile name and I'll add you as a friend! Thanks Chatabox! And it would be lovely to meet the younger boxer too. My sister In law has a boxer named amber, and she is the most beautiful old girl, but unfortunately they live up in NSW so we dont get to see them very often. I think i have managed to post a pic of our boy in my signature lol. My facebook is

Our scruffy is a x breed tlc. I dont mind cross breeds at all. We have looked at both lol. We were just thinking that if we went pure breed then we would know the temperaments of the parents etc etc. Just let me know when your up to it tlc, as i said there is no hurry, because being a stay at home mum, i can pretty much meet whenever is good for other people. Glad to hear that tully is feeling a little better! I too hope she continues to be ok, i don't even want to think about how i would feel if something happened to scruffy!

Hi Moody Chick! I have a Boxer boy I would be happy for your little man to meet, he's a tad boisterous, but some vigorous exercise before they meet should minimise his excitement. Also have a friend with a 6 month old Boxer pup, so maybe a more suitable size and not quite so boisterous. We get together a few times a week to socialise the dogs (and ourselves!) You are more than welcome to join us at any stage. Boisterous is ok Chatabox! I don;t know what sort of interest he will take if any lol, which is why i want to find out :D Would it be ok if i bought my foxy x as well? Theres no hurry :D

Ok i have a favour to ask. Is there anyone here with dogs or pups that we could come around and meet? Doesnt matter size or breed. We are going to try an experiment with our little bloke, to see what sort of dogs he connects with and that sort of thing, before we think about buying. We went over to Port Fairy this afternoon and went for a walk along the river. he stopped to pat every dog that went past lol. So he is very much a dog boy, now we just have to find the right breed for him, and we are hoping that something like this might help. There is n o hurry, and if you arent comfortable with it thats ok. We are just trying to figure out ways to find the right sort of dog for him. I am happy to meet at a park or something if that makes it easier

Oh god thats scary tlc! Glad to hear she ok now!

What we are now looking at doing, is hopefully finding breeders in the area, of different dogs. We are hoping to take our family out to meet a few different kinds of dogs and pups, and see how we all respond, obviously we will be watching our son the most. Seriously its not something we want to jump into! So i am going to contact any breeders i can find in the local area, and find out if they have pups or dogs, that we can come and just have a look at, and talk to them. See how our son and daughter behave around the dogs and pups, and see how they behave around our kids. Hopefully the talking to breeders, and seeing how kids and dogs react together,will give us a better idea of what to look for. Thanks again everyone, you have all be fantastic and helpful! And i agree that dogs can bring out the best in Autistic kids! Just a matter of finding that right dog for our situation :D