FASDogs & KD Premier Paws
It seems like jumping in and speaking about how service dogs skipped a whole step all together. Why did we start FASDogs in the first place? I can’t really get into that without talking about our breeding program KD Premier Paws.
In the year 2000 my husband and I adopted the first of eventually 14 children. We faced many of the typical situations adopting older children who had not been parented before, but we also homeschooled. While my friends saw their children advance yearly or academically leap from year to year – that was not my experience. We had a great time with learning history and geography and my children loved sports, but when it came to math it was groundhog’s day. Plus, sometimes my children seemed close to their actual age and sometimes much younger. 2 of the 3 really struggled with making friends with children their own ages. Every day we had to find new ways to teach some of the same material over. This pretty much went on 11 years until our adoption from Russia.
I was aware of FASD and how some children will have facial features. Well, one of the Russian babies we met did indeed have those features. We had already decided we were adopting the boys and so I began researching and taking classes about FASD. That’s when, in 2011 I realized most certainly my oldest 3 children were affected as well.
We always had dogs around – and rabbits, ferrets, birds (basically whatever pets the kids wanted and agreed to take care of). While often I saw the kids struggle with lack of cause and effect when it came to their pets, they also took on responsibilities of caring for another living thing and they developed routines as a result.
Several more adoptions later we adopted other children with (or suspected to have) FASD or drug exposure or abuse and dogs helped them all. In particular one of our sons really started struggling with various mental health issues and his young puppy was a lifeline to him when humans couldn’t help.
I still didn’t consider dogs being trained as service dogs and I didn’t know much about service dogs in general. I called the way they helped “therapeutic” and often used the wrong word of therapy dogs. We had moved to Kansas by this point and I was breeding dogs to be service dog potentials. I had matched and placed over 40 dogs in 3 years who had become service dogs. A friend Kathryn Meinhardt had started a residential facility for adults with FASD and she suggested I start a full service dog organization. Their residents who wanted to be involved in dog care helped with caring for some puppies and dogs and sometimes training. One of the residents was placed with one of our first dogs from our organization. We still continue to have a sister relationship with Dream Acres and we have been grateful to spend time on their campus for FASDogs orientations and graduations.
In a condensed version that is how we began. We currently have 6 graduated (Rio, Nanala, Daphne, Aqua, Rudy and Shaggy) one close to graduating (Rex) and 6 that are SDiT (Wick, Payton, Oreo, Archie, Gingerbread and Purdy) . We go on lots of adventures together and we can’t wait to see what the future holds for all of them!
Are you interested in getting a FASD service dog for yourself or your child?
If so, please fill out our FASDogs Service Dog application. We will be in touch within 24-72 hours!
About Us
FASDogs is a non-profit organization dedicated to raising and training service dogs specifically tailored to support individuals with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). Through a network of dedicated puppy raisers, volunteers, and a committed core committee, FASDogs aims to provide highly trained service dogs to assist and enhance the lives of individuals affected by FASD. Our program focuses on comprehensive training, specialized care, and ongoing support for both the service dogs and their recipients.
