Educated Canines Assisting with Disabilities

ECAD's Canine Magic is a specialized program focused on providing Service Dogs to children with Autism. ECAD is one of the few accredited Service Dog providers which accepts children with Autism as young as two years old.These dogs assist a child with Autism in areas of social, emotional, and cognitive development, but the dog's primary duty is to increase the child's physical safety by "anchoring". Anchoring is a method in which the dog wears a harness that is attached to the child's belt. The child also holds the harness and is taught to walk with the dog, but a third party facilitator (usually a parent or teacher) holds a second leash attached to the dog's collar. The parent can then give the dog a command to "stay" if the child becomes distracted, frustrated, or tries to bolt away, enabling the child to function well in situations that were previously impossible to handle.