A Girl and Her Dog: A Lifeline for a Young Autistic Girl

A young girl encased in a world that requires predictability and a peaceful space finds it really difficult to accept interactions unless she is the one initiating them.

When my daughter was little, we had two dogs. She didn’t seem to notice or have a need to be near either one of them.

Occasionally, she would allow the smaller dog to lay near her, but she didn’t necessarily connect with him. Both dogs had a sense that they needed to be calm in her presence and would not initiate contact with her as often as they did with the rest of the family.

We eventually lost both dogs to old age/illness, one in 2017 when our daughter was 8, and the other in 2019 when she was 10. We all mourned the losses and felt an emptiness in our lives, but our daughter did not seem to notice they were gone.

I had always heard that animals were therapeutic for autistic kids and adults, but that didn’t seem to be the case for our little girl.

Fast forward to 2021. My son had been begging me to get another dog. In March of that year, we brought home an 8-week-old German Shepherd puppy, and he was the biggest of the litter!

I had a moment of panic, thinking to myself, “What did I just do? How is my sensitive little girl going to handle a jumping, nipping, needy little puppy?”

We put the puppy on the floor, and she began to smile at him. As the puppy galloped clumsily around our home, our girl was intrigued, and she started following him and laughing hysterically! She not only noticed him, but she liked him!

As time went on, our daughter actually started verbalizing, “Just pet him,” and she would reach out and fluff his fur.

She would tell him, “No bite!” or “Get your toys!”

She would bring him a toy to initiate play and let him lay with his head in her lap.

They had bonded, and it was unlike anything I’d ever seen.

He was helping her with her verbalization, socialization, and reasoning skills. He now follows her everywhere she goes, and she lets him!

He tags along with me to put her to bed every night and “helps” wake her in the morning.

He cries like a baby when she leaves for school, and he’s right there waiting for her to come in the door after school, and she always greets him with a huge smile and laugh. If she is sick or sad, he doesn’t leave her side.

Our beautiful young lady has a best friend.

It’s not a human friend, but a friend that comforts and loves her unconditionally. A friend that would lay down his own life for her.

A friend that accepts her for exactly who she is. Couldn’t we all use a friend like that? What a beautiful bond and trust they have.

This is just a little story about a girl and her dog.

Written by Laura Simzyk of Olivia’s Extraordinary Journey