The Edmonton Sun has Darren and his new buddy Caper on the front page today, and an excellent article on page three.
Me and my shadow!
Six-year-old Darren Mulcahey and his new family pet are inseparable.
Caper, a 19-month-old black lab, is tethered to the autistic Spruce Grove boy anytime he needs to be kept out of harm's way.
The pooch, specially trained as a watchful companion, will help keep Darren - who has a compulsive obsession with opening and closing doors - within close reach by guiding Darren around public places, following Darren's parents' commands.
"There's been times going to Rona or Home Depot, and if you turn your back for a second to look at something, he'll take off," said Gavin Mulcahey, Darren's father.
That little boy is much safer now because of his dog Caper. The parents can have peace of mind when they know the dog is with Darren. The dog is just happy to have a job to do and people who love him.
The parents of autistic children here in Alberta have been very supportive of the work that Dogs with Wings does for their children. It is an amazing partnership, a real win-win situation. So, will we be able to give Rigger up when the time comes? Yes, with tears of course, but with joy knowing he is destined to help someone who truly needs him.
Caper has been trained by Dogs with Wings - a non-profit training school that produces dogs for the blind, as well as the physically and mentally challenged - to act as an anchor for Darren, said the organization's director of training.
All Gavin and wife Carmen have to do when their son tries to bolt is tell Caper to sit.
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'WON'T MOVE'
"We can pull that tether system in every which way, and the dog won't move until its told to," said training director Elisa Irlam.
Caper is also trained to be an emotional anchor - a calming influence on Darren.
"(Darren) sits with the dog and stays put. It's quite amazing," said Gavin.
"He thinks he's looking after the dog, but it's actually the other way around."
"I had to do some banking the other day. It look 10, 15 minutes and there was no trouble," he said.
And the work will continue for years, as Caper now belongs to the Mulcahey family and will guide Darren as long as need be.
Think of how stressful it is for the parents of an autistic child. It's hard enough raising a child as is, but add a disability to the mix, and it makes life just a little bit tougher. I have seen how an autistic child will interact with the dog, they open up and they take the responsibility of keeping the dog safe very seriously.
Gavin's hope is Caper's influence may help combat the anti-social and high-stress effects of autism, paving the way for independent living for Darren later in life.
"People will always want to talk about the dog. Hopefully (Darren) will see" the importance of socializing, said Gavin.
However, all this hope comes at a price - about $30,000 per dog for training.
To pay forward the favour to other families in need, Gavin is hosting a second-annual poker tournament April 26 at the River Cree Resort and Casino at 2 p.m.
Call Dogs with Wings at 780-944-8011 or e-mail Gavin at gjmulcahey@yahoo.ca.
Here is a fun opportunity to support Dogs with Wings if you live in the Edmonton area. Who knows, you might even get to meet Rigger at a poker table! I warn you, he plays a mean paw of poker!
9 comments:
Well done ... I hope Sandy at Crux picks up this special interest GOOD news story. She post a lot about Autism.
Keep up the good work
Hats off to you.
I saw a show on animal planet on cats (cats 101)and one segment showed how a cat helped an autistic boy really come out of his shell). I imagine dogs would be just as effective in helping them.
We need more good news stories like this.
This is a great story, Hunter. Thank you.
It's a very easy thing to do, and if my identity is revealed to raise money for Dogs with Wings, so be it.
Hey all you people, looking to find out who I am, and what I look like, come play poker with Rigger, it's only $100 to enter!
Well done, Hunter!
Is it not amusing that LS, SQ, and Kevron are never here when you post something positive? Gee, I wonder why.
Congratulations to Dogs w/ Wings on the 25, 000. 00 grant it got from the government!
Is it not amusing that LS, SQ, and Kevron are never here when you post something positive? Gee, I wonder why.-
Is it not curious that I seldom show up in blogs on weekends? Especially Sunday? Perhaps there is a connection?
I do have a non-political question though. How do you train a dog to obey the parents, but not the autistic child. I understand you can train a dog to obey only its master, so that would partly explain it, but the dog was not trained by the parents. How do you transfer mastery to another master and only that other master? Would the dog still obey the previous master? We had other pets when I was a kid, but never dogs so I don't know anything about this. Just curious.
Our 8 year old son is mentally handicapped (about 2 yrs developmentally). After the 2nd time I had to call 911 after one of his escapes I decided to apply to 'Dogs With Wings' for a service dog. There were lots of reasons, that just settled it! It is caring people like you that make it possible for us to be able to have that opprtunity. Thankyou so much for what you do!
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