My son received a service dog in Feb 2010 from the Heeling Autism program at Guiding Eyes for the Blind. It has really made a difference. First and foremost when we go out on day trips, our son is hooked up to his service dog which prevents him from eloping from us. I will walk with the service dog holding his strap while my son holds his dogs service vest. My son also plays with him daily and has become more social with children that are drawn to his service dog. He is now accepting more people standing around him.

There's also an organization called Arizona Goldens LLC who travels all throughout the US to take their dogs to different clients. They also do personality matching and will assist with the fundraising process as well.

We received our dog through 4 Paws For Ability and have had him now for 1.5 years. We did have to fundraise but they were very helpful throughout the process. I also like their continued support after we returned home with our dog. I'd be happy to answer any questions you have; our dog goes everywhere with our son including full time school.

We have a wonderful autism service dog. We got him through an organization based in Arizona, called Hairy Angel Foundation. They breed and train Golden Retrievers specifically for children, at little or no cost to families. They don't have a website, but if you Google the name you will find references to them and I think their address and phone number as well.

We don't live in AZ either. We drove there (Sedona) to pick up our dog. In some cases they can arrange to have someone to bring the dog to you.

They were wonderful. We did have to wait about 18 months for our dog, but that's because the dog hadn't been born yet! :D They match each dog to each child according to the child's specific needs, based on the information that parents give them.