[Kaos]

Originally Posted by tiggypou

Hi. I'm new to this website and a new yorkie owner in general. Our 5 yr old son has multiple disabilities -- Aspergers (a high functioning form of Autism), ADHD, and ODD (oppoitional defiance disorder). My DH and I were at a loss on how to help him with his "stimming." Also, to make sure he's safe, since he has the bad habit of doing what is referred to "as doing a runner" (pulling/running away) and "being a Houdini" (getting out of places without people knowing it).

With him being a "runner," we've lost count of the number of times he's broke and run from us. Several of those times have been in parking lots, some resulting in him almost getting hit.

And "Houdini"? I've gotten to the point where I dread going to sleep at night or going to the bathroom, because I don't know if he's gonna unlock the front door and running out into the yard. Bearing in mind all the sick minded people in the world (kidnappers, pedophiles), you can imagine how frightening this is. Not to mention that we also live on a very busy, main highway where there have been many accidents. In fact, we ourselves got hit in 2009 when we were pulling into our driveway.

With all of that in mind, we had been talking for a while about wanting to get him a service dog and regretting the fact that we couldn't afford that. Another family with a child with disabilities asked if a service dog would have to be a big dog. I had never thought about it, since most service dogs are medium-to-large breed dogs. So I started doing some research and found that ANY breed could be a service dog so long as the need for it was not based on mobility issues (i.e. - wheelchair bound individuals). Around the same time that I found this out, a Facebook friend posted that his brother-in-law was selling a 6-month old micro yorkie. I had them call me and when I explained why I was inquiring about the puppy and what I wishing for, the brother-in-law decided to GIVE us the puppy for free.

So, as of lunchtime yesterday, we became the new "parents" of a 6-month old, micro yorkie named Jax. After basic obedience training, I will begin training him for service dog duties. I know that he won't be able to "teether" to our DS, which some people do with medium-to-large breed service dogs. However, since our DS hasn't wanted to get too far from Jax since we got him and Jax doesn't want to get too far from me, I don't think that will be a problem. But I'm kind of unsure how to train Jax to help with the "stimming" behavior or how to help calm when our DS is having a meltdown. Any suggestions?

My brother has Aspergers (a high functioning form of Autism), ADHD, and ODD (oppoitional defiance disorder) too! I wouldn't suggest using a yorkie as a service dog for these disabilities at all. I have seen my yorkie which is my service dog do WONDERS for my brother, BUT I would NEVER leave the two of them alone together. My brother is a runner, and a houdini. My mother had to get locks approved for her home. You need a key to get OUT of the house. These children are far too unpredictable to leave any dog under 7lbs alone with. I think a service dog could do wonders, for your son but you should consider a larger dog with more stability.