Getting a dog for autistic boy Jude Bell Special

Jude Bell is a cute kid. At six he likes to laugh and make others laugh. That can be a feat for Jude because he has autism. Jude needs a special dog that would help him overcome his disorder.

Jude was approved for a service dog by 4 Paws for Ability, Inc. A service dog will help ease some of the Bell family's fears. Jude startles easily and runs away. The dog would be able to be tethered to Jude to stop this from happening. If Jude were to get away the dog will also be trained in search and rescue. Having a service dog is not just to protect Jude from being lost. The dogs help with behavioral therapy that improve the lives of those they serve. I spoke to Natalie Nuce at Ohio-based 4 Paws about the program, which owns 200 various dogs at different stages of training. She told me that each child's family that has been accepted into the program has a fundraising goal. That goal is for the collective organization that enables service dogs to be tailor trained for the children that they serve. "Some families are able to reach their goals within four weeks, others take four months. Once the fun raising goal has been met the dog that is picked for the child begins a training process." Each child has different needs Nuce told me. An autistic child's needs are generally a service animal that can help with distracting the child at the onset of behavioral problems, know how to be tethered to a child in public situations to help keep a child from fleeing and be a personal search and rescue dog during the times the child manages to escape. 4 Paws for Ability Service Dogs can be trained for a wide range of conditions that some children have to deal with. Some of the types of service dogs according to Nuce are for children with Downs syndrome, seizure alert animals, mobility dogs, and hearing ear dogs. Some dogs that are trained for more than one condition. "These dogs help the kids and the families live fuller lives."