[QuickSilver]

A colleague of mine has a child who has some developmental problems. He is six (the child, not the colleague), and appears to have an auditory processing disorder, where he can physically hear, but has trouble processing speech. He can read and do math, but has a lot of trouble listening and speaking.

I also know from his experience with Thor that he LOVES dogs - he's actually kind of obsessed with Thor - but he appears to have trouble with impulse control, and has tried to hit and kick Thor in the past (now I just say that Thor is "too tired to play" whenever this boy is in the office). That being said, he is a good kid -- he's not at all cruel or anything like that. He also goes horseback riding and loves horses.

I do think this boy would benefit greatly from having the RIGHT dog. I would think a large breed, calm dog that is at least a few years old and is known to be good with kids could do wonders for this boy. Further complicating factor is that this boy has allergies, so ideally, it would be a very calm, large breed dog that's good with kids and is also low allergen.

How you recommend this family go about finding a dog? Any recommendations on breed, or how to find a dog with excellent temperament? Is this just not a realistic scenario?