Factors Affecting Behavior and Welfare of Service Dogs for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder
From Service Dog Training
Factors Affecting Behavior and Welfare of Service Dogs for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders.
Contents |
Overview
This study followed the same study group as the Challenges of Service Dog Ownership for Families with Autistic Children. It attempted to make a qualitative assessment of dog’s welfare and factors influencing performance as a service animal. The study was comprised of semi-structured and open ended interviews looking at each dog’s behavior, interaction with the family, training problems, expectations of the dog within the context of the family, and successful events that occurred while using the service dog.
The interviews were conducted at 3 month intervals for either 6 or 12 months. The data was analyzed specifically pertaining to the dog’s role as a service dog within the family with a child with autism. It was designed to identify the potential physical and psychological stressors, with observation on the implications of those stressors on the dog’s performance and welfare.
Results
One dog retired permanently after 9 weeks due to behavioral issues following an instance of the dog dragging the tethered child. This dog was replaced by another dog who was found to avoid having his service dog gear put on. This issue was attributed to laziness by the family, and to obesity and poor training maintenance by the researchers. Another dog was returned due to unwanted behaviors and being a poor match for the child. The family choose not to replace the dog. That dog was retrained and placed with another family.
The study identified a variety of physical stressors on the dog included insufficient opportunities to toilet, long working hours, negative attention from child, and a lack of uninterrupted sleep which affected the dog’s performance the following day. The researchers noted that the children’s melt downs and aggressive behavior were ‘often’ directed at the dog, causing the dog to avoid the child and cower during such episodes. Two dogs growled when overstimulated by the child.
Dogs that attended school with the child were reported as being exhausted at the end of the school day and requiring significant recuperation time. If the family failed to provide sufficient rest time, the dog demonstrated a lack of responsiveness and poor performance in the evening. Dogs became anxious when they were out of their normal routine and exhibited behaviors such as growling (at the child or at the general public), overexcitability and improper elimination in the home.
It was found that the dogs primarily solicited contact and affection from one or both parents, and solicited attention from the child only if the parents were not available. Some dogs showed displeasure when shut in bedroom with the child for the night. One dog was not yet settling in at night by the 6 month evaluation. In addition, after 6 months, only 40% of the children were showing interest in initiating contact with the dog
Overall, the study found that the welfare of the dog was generally adequate, but showed gaps in providing sufficient social play and rest.
Other Notes
The growling and avoidance behavior of the dogs is of great concern, as is the lack of bonding between the children and the dogs. It was also noticed that many of the parents did not have sufficient knowledge of dog to interpret behaviors such as improper elimination and take appropriate action to correct this. It would seem that either the training during placement or follow up was inadequate to address what should have been basic information about dog care.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Because the study cohort is the same as Challenges of Service Dog Ownership for Families with Autistic Children, the strengths and weaknesses are similar to that study.
Citation
Burrows, K. E., Adams, C. L., & Millman, S. T. (2008). Factors Affecting Behavior and Welfare of Service Dogs for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science , 42-62.
