[Oisin's Aoire]

Hi , we just welcomed a GSD pup to our home. He is about 3 or 4 months old and his name is Alvin . We adopted Alvin as soon as we met him , he has such a great personality already . We plan to hopefully train Alvin to be an assistance dog for my 5 year old son who has autism ( and loves dogs) .

I know very few pass the test to make full "service dog" , but our needs from a service dog are mostly in the comfort and socializing department , and we need a "shepherd" for our boy

We are fortunate our son is high functioning , intelligent , affectionate , and does socialize when others initiate . He is a wander risk though , has some OCDs , and has significant speech and communication delays( his speech is about a 2 year old level , he is 5).

We are hoping Alvin can learn to walk nice and be trustworthy on lead while my son is walking with him on a buddy leash and handle( I will be his handler and have the main lead) . Alvin will also sleep with him ( kids with autism often have insomnia and wander at night ) . We also hope Alvin can learn to alert us if he is making a break for it .My son Oisin can unlock anything an adult can unlock..we have an alarm of course , but we as humans can forget to turn it on , plus we like a little fresh air through an open window every once in a while and Oisin can climb fences in the yard quite quickly! Not to mention when we visit friends it can be nerve wracking since they are not living under lockdown Scent work and herding would be a bonus if Alvin has the ability to learn it well .

We will be happy if we get the basics from Alvin , and we will take him as far as he can go in the service dog capacity . There is really no way to tell if a pup will cut the mustard ( though he shows great potential already ) . They are usually tested around 18 months after basic training ..so yes , we are rolling the dice . To aquire an already trained service dog costs between 10 to 15 thousand dollars . There are organizations that will provide one for little or no cost ..but , the dog is never really yours and there is a 2 year waiting list.

We are now training our 4 year old Boxer mix Bo to help with Oisin until Alvin can hopefully fill his shoes. Bo is a bit old to learn to "seek" , do scent work , or to alert if my son is trying to leave( we will try though!)..but he is a good partner on walks and frees up a hand . I also have a 6 year old girl and 2 year old son , so I need an extra hand when my husband is at work! All my family lives far or works long hours so I often do not go to parks and such with all 3 kids . Hoping Bo , and then Alvin , will help with that.

I have had GSDs in the past. I grew up with them , and loved them. They have always been my favorite breed. We are passionate about rescue too though..and a purebred pup like Alvin does not happen along very often. I am very happy we found each other , and grateful to the rescue. They are friends of mine and knew we were looking for a service dog candidate .

Oh , we also have a big English Mastiff named Greta. She had a hard life before we rescued her. She has some fear issues that are much improved but at estimated age 8 to 10 I doubt she'll ever totally get over it.Her joints are starting to go too She is my son's favorite dog , but she does not need any more jobs to do in life. She just gets love .

So , that is us. I will be posting a few questions here and there , as my title says..I'm a little puppy rusty . Most rescues are at least 10 months to a year ..so it has been years since I started this young!

I look forward to getting to know you all here , looks like a nice community!

 

[Oisin's Aoire]

Pictures

 

[Shade]

:welcome: He's adorable! :wub:

 

[JakodaCD OA]

he is sooooooooo CUTE! (both of them are!!) and he looks like an "alvin"

 

[Melina]

Oh my goodness! That's the sweetest thing I've ever seen! Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but welcome....That's so great!

 

[Oisin's Aoire]

Thanks for resurrecting it !! I should have done updates anyway

Geez , time flies , Alvin is 11 months now. His best guestimate birthday by the vet is late Feb , early March so we split the difference and calling him a March 1st B.D .

He is doing great! A few weeks ago a sitter was watching all 3 kids for me and Oisin got away from him and went bolting down our dead end street , which empties onto a 2 lane 40 MPH road :O . Well , the sitter let Alvin out who was freaking that my son was running away ..he TOOK>HIM>OUT , and then sat and stayed with him until the sitter got everybody under control again.

Good dog!!!

Ok , the kid could have done without needing tissue glue on his forehead , but it is a heck of a lot better than being run over by a car.

Alvin sat with him after he knocked him down and continued to play with his flailing feet . Ok , so we need a little fine tuning on the herding of the kid..but he saved him and stayed with him! He can also find him easily playing hide and seek ( a drill we do ) . He tries to initiate play when my son stims out too..he does that naturally. Sometimes it works , sometimes it does not. But he tries.

The sleeping with the boy has been a bit of an issue. Since Alvin is still under a year he does not realize that snuffling his ear or rolling over on top of his boy wakes him up which is the opposite of what we want lol . Small beans though.

The only obstacle I see that needs working on is effusive greeting of other people and dogs. I can have him stay off lead and he will NOT go and greet a person ..but he is trembling with want and delight the whole time . When I do allow him to greet he is still big puppyish. But , at 11 months old it is hard to say if it is young dog eagerness or something we will have to work harder on.

Other than that , he is wonderful. Heels perfect , has a 100 percent track record for off lead hand signals for the last 3 weeks or so. We work on it a lot. He never bolts , even when he sees a rabbit. He drops and trembles , but wont break from my side unless I tell him to. We only practice off lead in safe spots. He will never be off lead by roads. Nice to know he is trustworthy though.

So , that is about it! Probably the best part is how my 7 year old typical/normal daughter is bonded with him and she has a great interest in handling and dog training now. If she sticks with it for Alvin for another year or two we may look into a nice WL for her to train and do sports with .

Thanks for bringing my thread back to life Doing an update was fun !

 

[Sri]

That's one awesome dog! I am so glad your son is safe.

Wonderful photos, btw.

Thanks for resurrecting it !! I should have done updates anyway

Geez , time flies , Alvin is 11 months now. His best guestimate birthday by the vet is late Feb , early March so we split the difference and calling him a March 1st B.D .

He is doing great! A few weeks ago a sitter was watching all 3 kids for me and Oisin got away from him and went bolting down our dead end street , which empties onto a 2 lane 40 MPH road :O . Well , the sitter let Alvin out who was freaking that my son was running away ..he TOOK>HIM>OUT , and then sat and stayed with him until the sitter got everybody under control again.

Good dog!!!

Ok , the kid could have done without needing tissue glue on his forehead , but it is a heck of a lot better than being run over by a car.

Alvin sat with him after he knocked him down and continued to play with his flailing feet . Ok , so we need a little fine tuning on the herding of the kid..but he saved him and stayed with him! He can also find him easily playing hide and seek ( a drill we do ) . He tries to initiate play when my son stims out too..he does that naturally. Sometimes it works , sometimes it does not. But he tries.

The sleeping with the boy has been a bit of an issue. Since Alvin is still under a year he does not realize that snuffling his ear or rolling over on top of his boy wakes him up which is the opposite of what we want lol . Small beans though.

The only obstacle I see that needs working on is effusive greeting of other people and dogs. I can have him stay off lead and he will NOT go and greet a person ..but he is trembling with want and delight the whole time . When I do allow him to greet he is still big puppyish. But , at 11 months old it is hard to say if it is young dog eagerness or something we will have to work harder on.

Other than that , he is wonderful. Heels perfect , has a 100 percent track record for off lead hand signals for the last 3 weeks or so. We work on it a lot. He never bolts , even when he sees a rabbit. He drops and trembles , but wont break from my side unless I tell him to. We only practice off lead in safe spots. He will never be off lead by roads. Nice to know he is trustworthy though.

So , that is about it! Probably the best part is how my 7 year old typical/normal daughter is bonded with him and she has a great interest in handling and dog training now. If she sticks with it for Alvin for another year or two we may look into a nice WL for her to train and do sports with .

Thanks for bringing my thread back to life Doing an update was fun !