By Keighla Schmidt, Staff Writer

Nick Doiron is 12 years old and he wants a dog. Maybe a Golden Retriever, a German shepherd or a Labrador; something big.

Unlike other boys, though, Nick doesn’t want a dog just to have a playmate, while that might be an added bonus. This dog would be a service dog.

Nick has autism and the addition of a dog to his family’s home in Savage would be a benefit for him, as well as his family. Doiron family

To purchase the dog, the Doiron family has to raise $13,000. Their first big fundraiser will be a 5K run in Minneapolis around Lake Harriet Sunday, Oct. 12. Registration opens at 8 a.m.

The family hopes to have other fundraisers in the future and would like to have to dog within a year or two. The agency the dog will be purchased through, 4 Paws for Ability, allows the family to do all the fundraising so the process can be sped up.

Safety for Nick

“One of the main things would be safety,” said Lanae Doiron, Nick’s mom. “Nick likes to wander; he can sneak out of the house. We constantly have to keep an eye on him.”

The dog could be tethered to Nick so his family would no longer have to keep in close contact when they’re out in public in case he decides to roam. If he does escape, either in public or at their home, the dog would go on a search and rescue mission to find him, Lanae explained.

A big dog is necessary because it has the physical capability to stop Nick from escaping or at least getting too far, fast.

In addition to safety, Lanae said, the dog would also help with behavioral disruptions.

Nick is non-verbal and he has some repetitive behaviors, such as rolling his shirt in his arms or randomly making a sing-song sound and he as sensory integration issues, so he has a high pain tolerance.

The dog would deter the socially unacceptable behaviors by putting a paw on Nick’s thigh to indicate he should stop. “To people the behaviors are unacceptable,” Lanae said. “To the dog (stopping it) is a game.”

Segue to others

The dog will also provide a good segue for people who recognize Nick is different, but are not sure how to react, Lanae said.

“People will see the autism patch the dog will wear,” she said. “And that will allow the focus to shift off Nick and the disability and onto the dog.”

With the sensory integration issues, Nick likes heavy pressure on his body to calm him, so with a large dog he could lean on the dog or the dog could lean on him. To encourage Nick to stay sitting in a chair for prolonged amounts of time, the dog will sit on his feet to give him the sensation he likes. Nick Doiron: Nick Doiron has autism and is
nonverbal. He enjoys reading and spelling
out phrases from his favorite books, here
he spells "Are you my mother?"

“It won’t be a family pet,” Lanae said. “It’s Nick’s dog.”

Like many dogs, it will also serve as a companion.

While enrolled in a public school, Nick spends the majority of his time in the school’s autism center, but he is with other students for lunch and homeroom. The dog will be like a friend.

“At first it won’t seem like that, it will be like the dog is working,” Lanae said. “It may take some time for them to get used to each other.”

The dog will learn some of Nick’s behaviors and tendencies before ever meeting him by watching home movies of him. The dog will come prepared, Lanae said.

 For more information on Nick, the fundraising or the race, visit the Web site, www.nicksautismdog.com.  Keighla Schmidt can be reached at kschmidt@swpub.com.