I love animals. I admit it I am one of those folks that just loves dogs and cats.. in someone else's home. I do not enjoy the fur and mess that can come with a pet. You have to train them, feed them and ::shiver:: pet them.

Then one day, I found Gizmo. To be honest, I didn't find him, he sort of found us. My children were seven and five and my hubby is a big boy at heart. He was never allowed to have pets as a child and really wanted a dog for the children. Our son is severely autistic so I was dubious as to how this would work out, how he would react.

At the time we were living in Honolulu Hawaii and we went down to the pound to find a puppy. There they have a wonderful program of docents, volunteers that work with prospective owners in finding the perfect dog for them. We described our family to the young woman and she pointed out this cute little black fuzz ball that I fell in love with. She was cute and bouncy..and my son was terrified. Nothing we could do could get him to quit crying and cringing.

The docent thought a moment and took us to the next cage. There sat the ugliest dog I had ever seen. Tan, bald from the waist area back, skinny and well.. looked like a really ugly "Tramp" from Lady and the Tramp. I was not impressed. She brought this ugly mutt out for us to play with on a little grassy hill. I remember sitting there thinking, "What will the neighbors think when we bring this thing home?" My daughter was all over him and my son just sort of watched him with curious interest. He looked at me and said, "DOG". That was one of the first word my son had said in a year so of course we got "DOG" and named him Gizmo.

We were told that Gizmo was six months old and had probably never lived in a home. He was house trained very quickly and became a part of our family within hours of arriving. One thing that endeared him to me was my son was on the floor watching television and Gizmo came up to sit next to him. My son reached around his back and grabbed a piece of Gizmo's anatomy that most males would shudder to think about. Gizmo just yelped and walked away. At that point I realized this was the dog for us... he could handle anything.

Having the dog in the house increased my son's vocabulary and his activities. He is responsible for feeding, watering and letting the dog out for the bathroom. He thrives on this responsibility. He has taken on more and more. The dog has responsibilities too. He barks at anyone that tries to get near my son that is not family or close friend and once my son was stuck in our trampoline and Gizmo came to get me. My son has learned kindness "Don't hit the dog when you are mad" and he has learned patience "The dog is not ready to come in yet". This would seem normal for most children but for an autistic child these are social activities that have to be learned and relearned almost daily.

We were so lucky to find a social dog for my son at the pound, and you can too, but there are also great organizations around the country that actually train dogs not only for blind and physically impaired patients but for seizures and social activities too. Recently a friend of mine got a dog for her son with multiple problems, but mainly for seizures. The dog senses he is about to have a seizure and runs to the Mom to get help. The dog is also a social dog. She sleeps with my friend's son until he falls asleep, then comes down the stairs to be with 'Mom and Dad'.. maybe it is her break time?

Dogs are not only 'friends' but can do some valuable work for a family or community. Guide dogs have been used for some time but now they are being used for socialization for autistic and special needs children and adults that have difficulty making and keeping friends, children that are considered 'delinquent' for some reason or another, watching for seizures, helping a child with cerebral palsy go to school for the first time ... the uses are endless and their love back to us priceless.

Recently we just added our second "pound puppy" to the family. He is a miniature schnauzer mix. He is as cute as Gizmo is ugly. This one belongs to my daughter but there is something about animals..they seem to know and understand those that have special needs. I don't know how or why, but it makes for a pretty wonderful situation in our home. I still have hair all over the house and I still have to feed them but I have found that petting them once in a while is not as bad as I once thought.

What can you do? Be a puppy raiser. Many organizations need people to help raise and socialize a puppy for the first year or two of their lives. Volunteer at a shelter. Many shelters can use volunteers to be there to help match clients to pets. Call a shelter to see if they need help. Recommend a "pound puppy" to your friends. These dogs are often loving and caring but just need a chance to be found. Teach your children that being different does not have to mean being strange, to treat all people and animals with respect.

Want to know more on how dogs help others?

Howstuffworks "How Guide Dogs Work"
http://www.howstuffworks.com/guide-dog.html

Rescue dogs work with delinquent boys
http://www.naiaonline.org/body/articles/archives/dogsboys.htm

Loving Paws Assistance Dogs Index
http://www.lovingpaws.com/

The Puppy Place - Seeing Eye Dogs, Guide Dogs, Puppies and Puppy Raising
http://www.thepuppyplace.org/

Carolina Canines For Service, Inc. - Our Founders
http://www.carolinacanines.com/founders.html

BIO: Carla Suzanne Spearman-Reily lives in South Texas with her husband, Jim of 18 years and is a stay-at-home mother of two, a daughter, 14 and son, 12. She enjoys hiking, camping, travel and volunteering at various organizations that help special needs children. Some sites she would recommend are:

The Autism Society of America Home Page
http://www.autism-society.org/
and
Texas Parks and Wildlife
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/