To ALL Newbies, Consider this FIRST !! - Page 7

Gshprdsrul, I just wanted to share something I  became aware of recently. They are now training dogs to keep track of autistic children, who tend to wander. They will physically prevent the chid from leaving the property, prevent it from dashing out into the street and being hit by a car when it is out walking with its parents, and track the child down if it becomes lost. They also calm the children if they get 'stuck' in some repetitive behaviour. 

If your daughter is high-functioning, she may not need any of this, but thought I"d mention it just the same!  Here's a link to one of the few organizations which trains dogs for this very special task: http://www.4pawsforability.org/index.html

Many owners train their own dogs for this. Let me know if it's of any interest to you, and I'll give you some more links! I've trained my own dog to be my hearing ear dog, and he alerts me to vital sounds I don't hear when I take my hearing aids off for the night.

Sunsilver,

Actually it is my daughter that is autistic and she is 16,, so besides autism...Im dealing with teenage issues too...aagghhh.. :)    I do wish I had that information when she was little, I could have used it...she had NO FEAR and would go anywhere anytime.  There is so much more information out there now then before and trust me I did a LOT of research.  I do love the fact that GSD's are so very intelligent and can be trained to do almost anything, thats why I love them so much.  On the other hand,  the 4  year old in the pic could use the german shepherd to keep him from going where he pleases! 

Thank you again!

Karyn, Many have said how nice you are, it comes across in your posts.  From everything I've heard from others with ties to WVSC they will do right by you.   Keep working your dogs, it's good for the mind and body.

Karyn, I was kind of thinking he might be the one you needed help with!

I've heard many GSD owners say their dogs 'herd' their kids, and keep them from leaving the property, even grabbing their clothes if necessary to keep them from straying. Maybe one of your dogs is looking for a job??    LOL!!

I use to have a GSd rescue that would heard all of the kids into their own yards, one by one and give them a "kiss" on the butt, telling them to stay there. She would only do this if I was out of town. My flamin family does not know how to shut doors. The parents of the kids did not get she was trying to protect them. I look back now and laugh she did a really great job of it, other than the kisses. She knew the whole street, and if you did not live there she pushed you to the end of the street and would not let them on it. She did allow the adults to go get the visitors at the end of the block and bring them back in, as long as the went in someone's yard and stayed there.  The frist time she did this, one of the neighboors took her child to the DR. on a bite. so animal control came out.  Lucky, she was a GSD Owner and explained to her, GSD is a herder and with the owner out of town she just wanted everything in it's place. She also explained what her child received was a "shepherd's bite" if that dog really wanted to bite, the little girl would have been missing part of her but. When I got back into town, the ASPCA officer came over to check her out and on the way out the door, she kissed her too! (oh lord, I was glad I explained she was a rescue and I had only had her a few days shy of a month). She was a very gentle soul, who had been beaten. She got a wonderful forever home and he loves her dearly.

I am new so I don't know what went on before but your dog is beautiful and so is your child.

My 11 year old would go ballastic when I took the kids to the beach (This was when we were all younger 10 yrs ago). Mind you he HATES to swim but when they were little he would herd around them till he couldn't touch bottom anymore. Then he would sit at the shore and bark at them the entire time they were in the water and his eyes never moved from them. He was my first shepherd and I am a lifer now. They are truly amazing animals. I have a bad back from an injury on the police dept but my 2 yr old girl will be search and rescue if it kills me in the process. And my 1 yr old baby doesnt have the same drive but he is wonderful he will be therapy trained. And my 11 year old well I am keeping him comfortable and nursing his hips to keep him around as long as possible.

My second boy would always follow visitors to the front door when they were leaving and give them a quick pinch on the ass before they walked out. Never knew he was just "kissing" them good-bye!

LOL! Tasha, my second Shepherd, which my roomie picked up as a stray, would go nuts when we went in the water. If we let her swim out so she could check on us and make sure we weren't drowning, then she'd relax, and quiet down. She wasn't terribly enthusiastic about water, but she once swam several hundred feet out to the rowboat we were fishing from to check up on us. Once she knew things were okay, she jumped back into the water and swam to shore.

After that, we bought her her very own lifejacket! She loved to go in the canoe with us. She thought the neck yoke was designed especially as a head rest for her. We never did teach her how to keep the canoe properly trimmed, so we often had to compensate by shifting our weight when she repositioned herself, or else nudge her with a paddle to get her to move.

1doggie, I do hope that rescue gets a chance to try her hand at herding!! What a story! 

Thanks everyone for your comments and stories!  They are great!   I love the "kisses on the butt"  and yes...Sunsilver,  the four year old is the one that needs the herding!  LOL    He is a little cutie, he is my fiance's little boy and a non-stop talker and busy...busy all the time!  :)   I admire those too who train their dogs for SAR and for the people with disabilities.