Rock Climbing!

Boy, I had fun today!  I got to climb and climb and no one stopped me!!  Course I had a little help to get started (shhh!)  Then I got to swing all silly coming down!!

Yesterday at school, the Humane Society brought in a Therapy Dog for all of us to pet and play with, it was so much fun!  It was a really small doggie so I wasn't too sure what to do with it, I like big dogs better!  Next week they're bringing a labradoodle, I can't wait!  See?  I really didn't know what to do with this teeny dog!

This week, the lady trainer my mom keeps talking about is coming to help us with choosing a breed of dog that will be best for my service dog!  She is also bringing two of her dogs for me to play with!  I'm getting very excited to get my own dog!  Mom says she is working real hard to get clubs to donate to my dog.

GREEN fundraiser!!

This is a fundraiser for Zachary's Autism Service Dog... here is a link to some super awesome GREEN cleaning products that ROCK (been using them for the past week myself and can vouch for THAT!). Having a child with so many medical issues, including Asthma, it's more than great to get rid of all the stinky cleaning products!

H2O at Home Fundraiser for Zachary

Spread the word... FirstGiving!

A page has been set up for Zachary at First Giving, where donations can be made securely.  Spread the word and share his site with your friends and family!  The more people see it, the more help he could possibly get and the sooner Zachary can get his dog!  Share it, spread it... send it to the moon if ya can!

Let's get started!

Are you involved in any message boards/information boards about any range of things? Here's a story! One family was trying to raise the money for their son's service dog and a man they did not know became aware of it. He decided to put a challenge to his buddies on a football message board site where he spent time talking to his friends about all manner of things football related. He challenged them to come up with $2,000 as quick as they could. Within 24 hours, this family had the entire $15,000 they needed for their son's service dog, all of which had come from these incredible people and their network of friends. Donations ranged from $5 and up but the amount of people donating was astronomical! So, challenge your people! Thankfully, we now only need to come up with HALF of that $15,000!  There is a paypal link that can be found under the "How to Help" section in the links above.

So Excited!! A new purpose and

Well as we have been waiting to hear from ASDA regarding a service dog for Zachary, I have also been contacting other companies and looking for other options as... well I'm not patient and not knowing if he would be approved, I wanted to keep my options open! I have found a trainer that is not too far from where we live who trains service dogs. She has been doing this for many years as an option for people who are not able to wait years for a dog and/or do not have the ability to come up with the $15,000.  She is willing to work with us, either helping us to buy a puppy or find one that is a bit older. Then she will take the puppy and train him for Zachary's specific needs! This, also will not have a TWO year wait as most companies like ASDA do. The cost is from $3000 to $5000, depending on the puppy! She takes the puppy for the first month at a cost of $3000 and this gets him/her public ready and fully obedience trained. This includes her training our family. Then she continues to help us with ongoing training.  SO now I can start fully fundraising with a goal and purpose in mind and stop waiting to hear from a company that may never call!  

This option will also solve the one concern I had regarding getting a 2+ year old dog and the bonding between Zachary and dog.  I firmly believe that Zachary would bond well with ANY dog as he loves, loves, loves all dogs... but what happens if that dog does not bond with him?  This way, we start with a puppy and they grow up together.  Fingers crossed for us, it seems we may have found a solution!

Fishing!

I spent a few hours on Labor Day fishing with my friend Ashley and her two dogs, Duke and Roxie!  I have been playing with Duke since he was a tiny puppy and now he is HUGE!  He loves to lay on me when I get super excited and while we were fishing I thought I was going to have to lay on HIM!  He was SO excited and jumping in the water!  My Mommy says that any day now we should be hering from the people that are going to help me get my service dog.  It's so hard to be patient!! 

A note from Zachary

Hi, my name is Zachary!  I'm an 11 year old boy with Autism.  My mom says I'm not 'autistic', I have 'autism'.  Autism is a part of me, not ALL of me!  

I kindof have a bit of a problem (well huge problem!) with running away and escaping!  This is ONE of the reasons I need help from a service dog; to help prevent me from running away. A dog that would block me when I was trying to run. This would help me and my Mom a lot. See, it's hard to go to the park or beach because she spends the whole time chasing me (I have a brother and sister too). It's hard to go to friend and family get-togethers because she spends the entire time chasing me and can't visit with other people.  


Dogs help me to feel calm and anchored.  What that means is I'm not constantly looking for input as to my location in the world.  Sometimes I need to bang on things and hit my head so that I can make sure I know where I am at physically in the world.  When I'm around a dog, especially one that allows me to really touch and sit REAL close... I feel safe and anchored.


Did you know… 
*1 in 150 children is diagnosed with autism
*1 in 94 boys is on the autism spectrum
*67 children are diagnosed per day
*A new case is diagnosed almost every 20 minutes
*More children will be diagnosed with autism this year than with AIDS, diabetes & cancer combined*Autism is the fastest-growing serious developmental disability in the U.S.
*Autism costs the nation over $90 billion per year, a figure expected to double in the next decade
*Autism receives less than 5% of the research funding of many less prevalent childhood diseases
*Boys are four times more likely than girls to have autism
*There is no medical detection or cure for autism

Thank you from me AND my Mom for sharing in this experience with us!  It might be a long road, a hard road trying to fundraise the money for my dog.... but we will not give up!  I'm not sure exactly how much it costs, because I think everything is either 35 dollars or 35 cents!  Mommy says that's a bit low but I'm thinking I'm guessing pretty close!