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Thor, the Asperger's Service Dog

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Claradoon
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14 May 2014, 9:46 am

Have you seen this? I phoned them. It's very exciting, but maybe I've just got sugar-plums dancing in my head. The point is, these service dogs are specialized for neurological problems.

http://blog.theanimalrescuesite.com/tho ... rce=social



CyborgUprising
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14 May 2014, 11:25 am

Holy sh*t! My one dog is named Thor (spelled Þórr, the traditional Icelandic way)



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14 May 2014, 2:48 pm

Awesome, that is very exciting :D Hope to hear more soon!


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14 May 2014, 3:00 pm

Wow, What a beautiful story. It made me cry!


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14 May 2014, 3:23 pm

Unfortunatly this is not a real service dog. Service dogs by law must be TASK TRAINED. It must be trained to do tasks that mitigate the person's disability, and it does not appear that Thor is trained to perform any specific task that mitigates his Aspergers. A dog helping a person just by being there is not task trained and does not meet the requirements of a service dog. A dog that helps a person without performing a specific task is an emotional support dog and it does not have any public access rights.

I think it's a beautiful story and I completely believe that having a dog has helped Jacob so much. But it still remains that Thor is not a true service dog under the Americans with Disabilities Act. This has been a growing problem that makes it harder and harder for legitimate service dog teams.



Claradoon
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14 May 2014, 5:21 pm

Oops. I've been communicating with these people and have serious doubts. I backed off.

MODS: should we delete this thread?



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14 May 2014, 6:40 pm

Dont close this. Leave it open incase they are a fraud and people can learn that. My initial research on their website seemed legit but more googeling turned up a lot of complaints.

EDIT: They really seem like a-holes. A lot of fake grandstanding and a lot of fake "I can testify for this man in court" kinds of comments that fraudsters will usually bombard you with. I have delt with a lot of people like that an lets just say they are all bark and no bite.

http://articles.latimes.com/1989-08-15/ ... g-training



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14 May 2014, 6:49 pm

Claradoon wrote:
Oops. I've been communicating with these people and have serious doubts. I backed off.

MODS: should we delete this thread?


It's completely ok to have thought they were legitimate at first. When I was first looking into getting a service dog, Jacob's story was one of the first that I came across and I thought Thor was a legitimate service dog and that Bob Taylor was a legitimate service dog trainer.



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14 May 2014, 11:57 pm

ImeldaJace wrote:
Unfortunatly this is not a real service dog. Service dogs by law must be TASK TRAINED. It must be trained to do tasks that mitigate the person's disability, and it does not appear that Thor is trained to perform any specific task that mitigates his Aspergers. A dog helping a person just by being there is not task trained and does not meet the requirements of a service dog. A dog that helps a person without performing a specific task is an emotional support dog and it does not have any public access rights.

I think it's a beautiful story and I completely believe that having a dog has helped Jacob so much. But it still remains that Thor is not a true service dog under the Americans with Disabilities Act. This has been a growing problem that makes it harder and harder for legitimate service dog teams.




Thank you!! !! ! I'm so glad someone else here knows this too


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15 May 2014, 10:04 am

ASdogGeek wrote:
ImeldaJace wrote:
Unfortunatly this is not a real service dog. Service dogs by law must be TASK TRAINED. It must be trained to do tasks that mitigate the person's disability, and it does not appear that Thor is trained to perform any specific task that mitigates his Aspergers. A dog helping a person just by being there is not task trained and does not meet the requirements of a service dog. A dog that helps a person without performing a specific task is an emotional support dog and it does not have any public access rights.

I think it's a beautiful story and I completely believe that having a dog has helped Jacob so much. But it still remains that Thor is not a true service dog under the Americans with Disabilities Act. This has been a growing problem that makes it harder and harder for legitimate service dog teams.




Thank you!! !! ! I'm so glad someone else here knows this too


You're welcome! :D

Do you mind me asking what program you got your service dog through? Or did you owner train?



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15 May 2014, 12:32 pm

Too bad these guys aren't legit. Oh well.

I think the concept of a service dogs for those on the autism spectrum is a great concept and hopefully someone can make it work someday.


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15 May 2014, 11:57 pm

I've enjoyed the story. I also feel that parents should stop making fantasies about the perfect lives that their children are going to have. If expectant parents could imagine a more middle of the ground life for their kids, they won't be as disappointed. I wonder if my mum ever imagined me being married with a family before I was born. Okay, never mind.


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Last edited by CockneyRebel on 16 May 2014, 11:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.

ImeldaJace
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16 May 2014, 9:43 am

eggheadjr wrote:
Too bad these guys aren't legit. Oh well.

I think the concept of a service dogs for those on the autism spectrum is a great concept and hopefully someone can make it work someday.


There are legitimate service dogs for people on the spectrum. The dogs are trained to do tasks that mitigate a person's autism. The specific tasks the dog is trained to do depends on the needs of the person. Here's a link that talks more about it:
http://www.servicedogcentral.org/content/autism-service-dogs



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16 May 2014, 11:58 am

Wow - this is great. I was unaware. I wish that I had a service dog as a kid - life would have probably been 1000x better.


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ImeldaJace
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16 May 2014, 12:41 pm

I though I might as well post this as it shows some things that a legitimate autism service dog can do.

Here's the link in case the video doesn't work.
http://youtu.be/WiSB-AFnWHc

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&persist_app=1&v=WiSB-AFnWHc[/youtube]



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16 May 2014, 1:10 pm

ImeldaJace wrote:
I though I might as well post this as it shows some things that a legitimate autism service dog can do.

Here's the link in case the video doesn't work.
http://youtu.be/WiSB-AFnWHc

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&persist_app=1&v=WiSB-AFnWHc[/youtube]



Yes!!, this is actually on online friend of mine!! !! !!



Quote:

You're welcome!

Do you mind me asking what program you got your service dog through? Or did you owner train?


For my first we owner trained and tried to do it again but he washed out,strider iss till in training he is only nine months old, we were going to do half in the program and half owner training but I'm having some trouble with the owner training end due to lack of proper resources so he is going to complete his training with his program. His program is Paws up service dogs in colarado. They are really amazing




We are actually thier /first/ team aka thier pilot team!!


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Autism Service Dogs - Everyday heroes
many people spend their live looking for a hero
My autism service dog IS my hero

http://autismdoggirl.blogspot.com/
http://stridersautismdogjourney.blogspot.com/