Autism service dog training centre opens in Saskatchewan

“I hope eventually she’ll be a service dog for Sam and at the very least that she’ll be a companion animal for him … she can give him a bit more freedom,” Susan said.

Pawsitive Independence Autism Service Dogs of Saskatchewan has just opened its doors and runs out of the Paws Republic boarding and training facility in Martensville.

This non-profit is the first organization in Saskatchewan to train service dogs for autistic children.

Pearl Gagnon, president of Pawsitive Independence, was inspired to start the organization because her two sons have autism.

She hopes a service dog will teach her eight-year-old son, Gabe, responsibility and give their family more freedom.

“This will hopefully open him up to his school, his community and his family,” Gagnon said.

The service dogs will be trained to every individual child’s needs, but Gagnon said a big focus will be keeping the child safe. She explained her son, Gabe, is a “bolter” and will run away from caregivers or unlock doors and get out of the house.

“One time we were downstairs and I heard the garage door open and he had found a key, opened the locking deadbolt of the garage door and was walking down the street … It’s terrifying as a parent,” she said.

Gagnon said the service dogs will be trained to stop a child from running, track a child if they wander off, nudge a child to distract them from repetitive behaviors known as stimming and be a constant friend.

“We’re just hoping it opens up their little world a little bit,” Gagnon said.

The service dogs will either start from a puppy or will be an existing family pet put through extensive training.

The training process will take anywhere from one to two years, meaning the number of families they can help is limited.

“The max we can probably do right now if they want an accredited service animal would be three a year,” she said.

However, she said the organization has only been operating for a couple of weeks and already they getting many applications and know they can’t meet the demand.

“The need is there, the drive is there, but we just don’t have the resources and the people right now,” Gagnon said.

Gagnon said it costs about $20,000 to train a service animal, but it will be free of cost to the families.

Pawsitive Independence will be holding fundraisers and is looking for partners and sponsors to help them continue this business.

For more information, visit their website.

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by paNOW

Autism service dog training centre opens in Saskatchewan

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