Help us in our journey to provide an Autism Service Dog to our sweet boy, Lukas!

Autism Service dogs are specially trained dogs used to help mitigate the behaviors and anxiety that children living with autism endure. These dogs have the ability to identify early signs of behaviors (also called "stimming"), and intervene early before the behaviors escalates to something for extreme (like hitting or biting themselves).

These special dogs are also able to provide tethering so he can't bolt into traffic suddenly, and are also able to track him if he runs off or gets out of the house --- you see way too many stories of children with autism getting out of the house and going missing or getting hurt.

They can also provide deep pressure (think of it like a furry weighted blanket), tactile stimulation, and a comforting presence to enhance sleep, which can be difficult for children with autism. Having service dogs has also been shown to help the communication abilities of children with autism, allowing them a safe companion to talk to and strengthen their verbal and interpersonal skills.

Lukas' dog will be specially trained to respond to his behaviors and triggers that are unique to Lukas.

To say a service dog would be life changing for Lukas would be an understatement. For Lukas, having this companion would give him more confidence and independence, allowing for more social interaction, less anxiety, and more time to just be the amazing kid we all know him to be!

Training a service dog to meet our child’s requirements can be very costly. On average it costs between $40,000-60,000 to raise, train, and place a service dog at 4 Paws for Ability. While 4 Paws for Ability fundraises to help cover a significant portion of this cost, families are tasked with raising $20,000 of that amount or $23,000 if receiving a poodle, doodle or papillon. We hope that we can receive assistance from our beloved family and friends to help make our service dog dream a reality.