Prayers desperately NEEDED!!!!
- Thread starter Don M
- Start date
JDGolden
Well-known member
- Mar 16, 2013
- 1,730
- 271
Very glad to hear that! Also so happy to hear that your son has been much more comfortable and outgoing due to his dog. Breaks my heart hearing that he kept everything closed up beforehand.
Enjoy your retirement and your time with your happy son.
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Enjoy your retirement and your time with your happy son.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Don M
Active member
- Jan 8, 2010
- 2,254
- 14
- Thread starter
- #24
Will do! She has gotten A LOT of attention since being home - but then again, she is ALWAYS getting attention from someone in the family all the time.
One of the last things my career destroyed before I left was my patience and tolerance, and I am trying very hard to figure out how to get them back.
Getting Ruby was a "Hail Mary" play. We tried everything we could think of and all his doctor's suggestions to break him out of his shell, to no avail. Ruby has improved his life MORE in just two years, than anything else we tried in the last 29 years (he is 31 now). Ruby is also a rescue dog. My wife and I thank God everyday for him pairing up my son and Ruby.
I am really enjoying my retirement. The relief that it is finally over is indescribable. There are still bumps in the road, but with all of the work stress gone, they are manageable. My primary goal is to reconnect with my wife and kids, God knows I've neglected them for far too long.
Don M
Active member
- Jan 8, 2010
- 2,254
- 14
- Thread starter
- #26
Ruby is considered by his Doctors to be an "Emotional Support Animal." It doesn't carry the weight of being an actual "Service Dog," which would mean that she could go anywhere with him, regardless of the establishment's policy on allowing animals in their buildings. That is absolutely OK with us, as she has more than done what we had hoped.
Ruby was part of a large-scale rescue in a northern Ohio county - over 40 dogs were seized and placed out for adoption across the state. My wife and sons went to a local rescue, where some of the puppies were sent. Ruby was one of the very few remaining pups and when she was introduced to my oldest son (who's dog she is), she just laid on his lap, that's all it took.
Turns out something not good must have happened to Ruby, prior to the rescue, but we have no idea what happened. The trainer we take her to, believes that whatever happened was severe enough to emotionally scar her for life. Ruby is VERY scared and nervous (and actually takes Prozac everyday FOR her nerves), she allows almost NO ONE to approach her, let alone touch her, except for my son, me, my wife and my youngest son. She is MOSTLY ok with strange dogs, but NOT with people at all, except for us 4.
The trainer has also told my wife and I, that if Ruby did not have the issues she does, things would not have worked out as well as they did for my son. Ruby has latched primarily to my son and to a lesser extent, my wife and I. When out in public, she is not an outgoing dog who feels the need to greet everyone. She could be considered VERY anti-social and will hide behind one of us if another person approaches and/or bark at them out of fear. Ruby's strong attachment to my son and aversion to strangers (according to the trainer), was PERFECT. In the beginning, my son was VERY socially awkward and heavy on avoidance. So if Ruby HAD been "normal," my son would have never been able to handle being forced into a social situation by the dog's enthusiasm and the positive changes he has made, would not have happened.
So now we know what happens when a HOUSE-BOUND, Autistic adult, successfully pairs with an emotionally-scarred, scared dog - A BEAUTIFUL COMPANIONSHIP and a vastly IMPROVED LIFE for both.
P.S. - We DID get Ruby her OWN "Emotional Support Dog." Our other dog, is a 15 year old boxer mix and she is too old to play with Ruby. So we got Oreo, who is a Blue-Heeler mix and Ruby's exact opposite. Oreo is SUPER friendly and thinks her job is to greet and love on EVERYONE. And her and Ruby get along amazingly well ... It's funny when you think about it, my son's emotional support dog, needs her own emotional support dog.
Prayers DO come true and My son's and Ruby's relationship is definitely a match made in Heaven.
