oh yes these are cute little fluffy dogs. They're not very popular in my area yet but i have seen a few.

here is the USA Coton De Tulear club website and information about the breed. General Information they originate from Madagascar, how cool is that!

I think it would be a wonderful idea to have a service dog for your autistic son. It does sound like his issues might be better address with a dog that is trained to his disability. Is it your hope that he might some day be able to leave home and live independently? Is that a possibility? If there is even a slight chance that would make it even more important that the right dog be matched to your son. This is a very interesting thread and I hope that you keep us updated to what you are able to find out.

Thank you,
My son, Matt, is high fuctioning. He is verbal, yet , with the cognitive delays, he falls far below average . He is in a SDC classroom , goes to school out of town is gone from 6:15am-5pm during the week days.
Now that we have Suzi , we are sharing her. Matt loves her so much as I do .ANd it is hard at times for me. ANd for him, I don't like it when he just takes her off my lap... However, he needs to spend time with her too.. Matt is wonderful with Suzi, no problems , or issues> He wants Suzi to sleep on his bed, i will not let her. But, Every morning, i'll still be sleeping and Matt takes Suzi off my bed , and She's with him, then he lets her out of his room, she "attacks" me! LOL .
I guess you could call it Doggie Rivarly! Matt needs his own service animal. I just do not know what kind yet or if it ought to be a yorkie, or what would be good to have with Suzi? She is only a little 7-8 lber. I would not mind anther yorkie around, Matt loves the Yorkie Breed, considering how much he Loves Suzi>
I understand I need to go through the same approvals I had to when getting Suzi for a service animal > However, if this worked out, and he is approved, I am looking at anther service animal for my disabled son. He is not going to be living on his own , due to the cognitive delays, and if he did he would need the support services , such as a developmental disabled home for adults > however, i would not do that to him, unless that is what he wanted to do. But, if he was 30, YES, that is something he might consider> i am a single parent and he is my only child.

Ha ha! It sounds like he is doing some pretty typical kids things to me with Suzi ;) The point of my question was that if he did ever decide that he would like to transition away form home to an assisted living situation I would think that having a professionally trained service animal would be a wise choice for him. A few years ago I took a class and was certified as a disability childhood advocate and there are a lot of wonderful services that you could be offered when he is no longer eligible for disability services through your school district. I believe it is 19 they start the process of finding services as an adult but I am sure that you already know this information. Keeping this in mind, it might be wise to really think about different scenarios that you both may face in the future. He might be able to work through a local program and want to take his service dog along. A dog trained specifically to react to his disability would be a wonderful asset to his even small independence.

You sound like a wonderful and loving mom to want the very best for your son. :)

Well... the way I see it is a fairly normal situation. I don't think it confuses Suzi at all. Everyone usually has "family dogs." Growing up, I got Daisy, our Golden Retriever, for my 5th birthday. Well, of course I was too young to take care of her myself so even though technically she was *my* dog... she was really my parents dog. She would love on me sometimes and come cuddle with me and give me kisses... but she was my dad's dog. She slept with him, she listened to him, he fed her, etc. So, that part of it sounds like a very normal situation and I don't think you should be jealous when Suzi wants to be with your son. You also have to think.. IF you get a dog for him, you will have to make sure he is the sole caretaker of her (or at least most of the time) so that the new dog would connect with him. If you're the one it, taking care of it, etc... it's going to look at you as it's owner as well, just like Suzi does.

Second, I think it'd be really cool if you got another Yorkie and don't see the problem! :) But, I love having more than one dog so maybe I'm biased.

They are not very big, about 12-15 lbs my grandmother and her sister both have one as companion dogs. The reason I suggested is because they are smart, don't shed, and great people dogs just like the yorkies. But they are not terriers and they are a little more mellow, but still playful. They are quite a bit sturdier. They need to be brushed, but tend to stay very clean and no smell, so they don't have to be bathed very often at all. They are a easy maintanence dog:) I ofcouse would love to see you get another yorkie, but for me a coton would be a close second. They are also very cute and soft and fluffy. As far as breeders go there are not a ton out there but they are deffanately findable.