Autistic Child Gets A Special Friend!

Most of you know that our family fosters "Dogs With Wings". Here is the reason why we do it.



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.
Click here to find out more!

'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!

Rigger Meets PM Harper!

What a day Rigger and I had! We got to meet PM Harper! I was very impressed with him. He is very down to earth and for all you dog lovers, I have it straight from the Prime Minister that he loves dogs and would someday, like to get a Labrador.



The first thing he wanted to do was pet Rigger. During the picture of the Edmonton Leduc participants, (edited from the picture because I do not have permission to post their pictures), PM Harper made sure the photographer got Riggers attention. This photo is by my friend, Ardvark. Thanks Ardvark, it was really nice meeting you. He can now attest to the fact that I am a real person, and that I am a female. He put together the fact that I had a "Dogs with Wings" dog with me, and that I was from Edmonton Leduc, so he came up and introduced himself. And here I thought I was all anonymous and everything, sheesh! It's going to be fun now because I can put a face to Ardvark when I read his blog.

The event was really enjoyable because you were in a room full of Conservatives, with not a single troll in sight. With only about 150 people in the room, and an hour and a half delay because of the protesters, not a single person complained. I met Rona Ambrose and Peter Goldring, both loved Rigger. You could walk up to anyone there and just start talking, of course Rigger is an excellent icebreaker, as my 15 year old son knows.

The Tamil protesters were out in force (10), with their terrorist flags waving, not a single Canadian flag in sight, it was frankly disgusting to see. How they expect Canadians to support their cause is beyond me. How they found out about this meeting is a mystery too, because it was thrown together in 2 days by the organizer, I only found out about it last night.

The Prime Minister gave a short speech, then met everyone for photos. He got in some good shots about Iffy changing his speeches from province to province, issue to issue, and how Liberals are all about getting back into power and only need two positive polls to force an election. PM Harper was very relaxed. He makes great eye contact, and is obviously very comfortable with who he is and what he wants to accomplish. I can picture sitting down with him over a beer and a good curling game and having a nice relaxing time. The whole gathering was very casual but reaffirming for Conservatives.

Rigger of course is oblivious to the fact that he met a very special person today, he thinks all people are special, especially if they pay attention to him. There was a real seeing eye dog there and Rigger ignored him, which is what he is supposed to do. So Rigger was the star of the day, and he doesn't even know it.