Seems He's Not Getting It!

[Cheryl and Finnegan]

Finnegan and I started as a therapy team in a reading program for children with special needs in September.  Finn has always seemed to know when he's working and when he's not.  The problem is, he seems confused by this situation.  I've taken him to nursing homes and he's always been gentle and attentive to the patients.  He can zero in on someone with dementia or alzheimer's and sit with them for a long time.  Or move from person to person gratefully accepting their pats while giving them long loving looks. I had wanted to start him in the Courthouse dogs program, but they needed a reading team so we said we'd try.  Finn is always happy to get to the school, greets everyone in the office, and the 6 children in the class are always delighted to see him. They hug and kiss him and he's very gentle with them and one happy guy.  We all settle down on the rug, for them to read and all is well for about 5 to 10 minutes and then Finn gets antsy and bored. He gets up and turns all his attention on me -- clearly wanting to leave :( I'll put him into a down stay (which you would think he never learned), but he pants (stresses) so loudly it's hard to hear the kids read.  He'll start to talk and the kids laugh, convinced he's commenting on their reading but I know he's asking to leave. Of course as the different children reach out to pet him, his attention is once again on them so he settles ... for a bit.

We've had a lot of rewarding moments in spite of the frustration.  He seems to have especially connected with a young girl who is the most severely autistic. She is in her own world much of the time and can't look you in the eye.  I watched her with a previous therapy dog and when she would try to pet him, she'd quickly grab her hand back as if burned. She'll lay her arm or head on Finn which he gently accepts and talk to him. She tells me he is soft and she loves him.  She has uncontrolled movements sometimes, and though he startled the first time, he doesn't even blink now if he gets a gentle elbow in the ribs.  He'll stay close to her and look at her as if his whole world revolves around her.

What can I do, if anything, to help him relax -- or is reading just not his thing?  Has anyone else experienced this?  

     

[Carolyn Shusterman]

Julie, Thank you for recommending Temple Grandin's book, Animals in Translation to everyone.  I read it because one of Hershey's puppies went to the home of an autisic 13 year old and I wanted to understand the relationships of autism and animals.  I am in awe of what Temple has accomplished and I learned so much about how our dogs think.  This book gave me insite on how to help our dogs feel comfortable in different situations.