#4pawsforability

Animal Therapy Helping Autism

Dogs earned their nickname as “man’s best friend” for a reason; in this case, dogs have been a vital part in helping autistic children and adults lead healthy lives. All parents want their children to fit in at school and lead the same life as any other child, but this genetic disability has caused many parents and children to have to look at life a little differently. Animal therapy has provided…

So anon I set this ask to the side because I am definitely no authority on assistance/service dogs in any way. However! I have a lovely friend named Myuki who is. She’s even training one herself. And she is autistic also, so I got her to write a review for us. Without further ado:

Before I was asked this question, I only had a surface relationship with 4 Paws. Basically, I just knew that they existed, but wasn’t aware of how they operated or what their goal was. Now that I’ve spent some time researching and reading about them (you can read their own page about autism assistance dogs here: http://4pawsforability.org/autism-assistance-dog/), I feel as though I can give a somewhat honest review.

First of all, my initial reaction towards reading the above page was that these people have no idea what those with Autism go through. Their knowledge of Autism is limited at best, and wrong at worst. Primarily, they use functioning labels and will only give their dogs to those they consider “low functioning” (though from doing more research, I’ve found that they also pride themselves in placing dogs with what they consider “high functioning” people, so they basically contradicted themselves right off the bat).

The second problem I had was that I found several reviews (here: http://4-paws-for-ability-inc-reviews.measuredup.com/9202529) that say they borderline abuse their animals during the training process. Now, I’m not sure how legitimate these reviews are, considering that reviews on other websites (such as the 4 Paws Facebook page) are all considerably complimentary. That being said, the limited contact I have had with the 4 Paws dogs on my college campus has proven to show that the dogs don’t have a whole lot of structure to their training program. This is probably because 4 Paws doesn’t screen their candidates for placement, and instead insist on the image that “every family who needs a dog will receive one”. This state of mind is optimistic, but a bit too grand for the project they’ve got going.

I understand they’re building a new facility, but my concern is that they can’t continue to crank out dog after dog for all these families they’ve promised a fully trained service dog to. Training a dog takes a lot of time and hard work, and even then the best of dogs will wash out due to some problem. It seems to me that 4 Paws doesn’t put a lot of consideration into this, and continues to churn out partially trained or untrained dogs and placing them into homes that need a dog that is a lot more stable. (Though it appears that many people are satisfied with their dogs that have come from 4 Paws, which I suppose is a good thing. My question on that front is, do these people really know what a well trained service dog acts like in the first place?)

Another reason that 4 Paws isn’t really that phenomenal in my opinion is that they want you to pay an exuberant amount of money for your dog. They call it a “donation” to the facility, but essentially it’s just you paying for their services. From what I’ve gathered, they’re wanting you to “donate” upwards of $10,000-$20,000, all out of pocket.  They expect you, the recipient, to raise this money on your own, without their assistance, and deposit the money directly into their bank account. To me, at least, that seems a bit sketchy.

I suppose what I’m getting at here is that 4 Paws sounds like they want to do good, but they don’t have the knowledge or ability to perform at the capacity that they are currently trying to run at. Their information on Autism is limited and ableist, and their training program is shoddy. I’d say approach with caution, and be wary about giving them any of your hard earned money. Instead, put that money into buying a dog from a quality breeder (or shelter!) and train yourself through a owner-training program if you have the time and resources available to do so. If not, perhaps look into another organization and leave 4 Paws as a very last resort.