Afraid of dogs, but wants one.........

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My son is terrified of dogs. He's not afraid of them biting. He's afraid of them barking. He has an aversion to the sound of barking. When we walk around our neighborhood, he will avoid places where we've heard a dog bark before.

But, he begs me constantly to get a pet dog for him. He wants the dog to keep him company in the house. He thinks the dog will make him less fearful.

I'm wondering if he could get used to the sound of his own dog barking. I told him that all dogs bark some of the time. I don't understand his strong aversion to barking, so I don't know if he could get used to his own pet...or if it would be a disaster.

what about pet-sitting for someone ?......i just don't know that he'll get used to a dog's bark...

Have you considered a cat instead? This would provide some of the companionship without the barking.

Have you thought about getting a trained service dog. I have heard they have those that work well with aspies, and they wouldn't bark. The other suggestion is get a puppy... puppies don't bark for a while... and when they do it is such a cute bark that he probably wouldn't be afraid of it and can gradually get himself used to bigger dog barks. Then theres the fact that if you train a dog right, they rarely bark anyway (once of twice a day tops) so he would have 10 seconds of fear and 23 hours 59 minutes and 50 seconds of fun. Sounds well worth the trade off.

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Getting a dog could be fantastic for him. I dont know wether he will get used tho the sound of his own dog barking however there are a couple of options.
Get a Basenji they do not bark.
Or get a puppy train it well and if necesary get a citronella bark collar. One solution may be to teach the dog to bark on command and be quite in command, maybe having control like this will give your son confidence in the barking. I would suggest that you dont get any kind of small terrier, do research on the breeds that are more likely to be yappy. One more thing this may sound odd but two dogs are much easier to manage than one on its own.

check out
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basenji

I think cats should be the official autism spectrum animal.

With a dog you are family,

With a cat you are staff.

In general an aspy will relate better to an animal that can bond with them.

Purebred Border Collies hardly ever bark.