Charla Gretz, of The Plains, said she knew early on that her now 6-year-old daughter was different from other kids.
At two years old, Charla’s daughter, Shyanna, discovered how to finagle a deadbolt loose and remove the chain that locked the door to their house. Her temper tantrums sometimes escalated until pieces of furniture were thrown or flipped.
“When she’s really stressed, she’ll throw a table or a chair,” Gretz said of her daughter. “We’re not proud of that, but it does happen. It’s part of living with Shy.”
At three years old, Shyanna was diagnosed with autism, Gretz said. The diagnosis came after her family solicited multiple pediatricians for advice and eventually completed a three-month testing period at Children’s Hospital in Westerville, Ohio.
Now, Gretz said she is trying to raise money to outfit Shyanna with a service dog from 4 Paws for Ability.
4 Paws for Ability dogs complete 500 hours of training and are tested before being placed with a family, said Karen Shirk, executive director and founder of 4 Paws.
They are trained to help children stay safe and manage behavioral problems. When a dog is ready to be matched with a child, the child and his or her parents attend a two-week training to meet the dog and teach parents about the dog’s skills.
“Also, we train the dog to give kisses and snuggle with the child,” Shirk said. “So that if they’re getting anxious and headed toward a meltdown, they can use the dog instead of escalating out of control.”
The canines are trained to track child companions who wander away from parents.
“If the worst thing in the world happens, and the parent looks up and cannot see their child anywhere, they have their personal track-and-rescue dog,” Shirk said.
Gretz said Shyanna wears a GPS tracking device to help find her when she wanders off. However, the GPS is only as valuable as its battery life and can easily be removed.
Gretz added that the furry companion will also help to provide deep-pressure therapy to Shyanna’s legs by lying on them and will act as a social aid when interacting with other children.
To pay for the dog, Gretz said she raised $13,000— a goal she met last June. Now, she is trying to raise an additional $3,000 to $4,000 to help pay for their two-week stay in Xenia, Ohio, where she and Shyanna will meet their dog.
The amount, if raised, will cover traveling, hotel and some meal expenses as well as the vacation time that will be taken from work and babysitting costs to care for her son, who also has special needs.
Gretz’ family is one of many working with 4 Paws. The center has sold service dogs to people worldwide, including a family from Australia who is part of the current training program.
“We place about 100 dogs a year, and I would say 45 percent of them are autism dogs,” Shirk said. “Autism and seizure dogs are the two largest groups.”
Circle Tail, based in Cincinnati, also trains dogs to be placed with children who have autism, though it differs substantially in price from 4 Paws.
“We partner our dogs free of charge,” said Kim Thompson, an office assistant at Circle Tail. “So usually the only money that it costs them would be a $25 application fee.”
Dogs trained at Circle Tail also differ from those trained at 4 Paws in that they are trained for in-home service only, and not for public access. Circle Tail dogs are trained to aid in behavior interruption, apply pressure therapy and block doorways, said Marlys Staley, executive director at Circle Tail.
“It’s tailored to whatever (the child) needs, versus ‘this is an autism dog’,” Staley said. “It’s more what does the child need and family need; what would help them out?”
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