I have always had a dog and he's not a trained therapy dog but have to be careful who trains it if you get one of those. Mine is with me all the time and for me, he keeps me out of trouble and gets lots of love so he loves me. he just seems to know when I'm going to get in trouble and nudges me or jumps so I know to calm down..

We have two cats in our home that interact very well with our two autistic children. The older cat helps my son keep on time in the morning and evening routines - my wife and I have nicknamed him Nana (from Peter Pan). Pets can be very good for our children if we get the right ones for our homes.

It depends on the ASD child. My son only likes certain pups/dogs. We already had the dog when my son was born and by the age of 3 my son decided he didn't like the dog touching him. However, he loves our neighbor dog and tries to cuddle with the dog (big boxer mix) any time he can. My advice is to let your child pick the pet. Keep in mind, your child might not like the bitting/nipping stage of a pet. One last thing, we have a golden retriever that is 13 and my son now doesn't like the smell of the dog and gets very aggravated if he can smell the dog. But these are all things you can work on with your son and try to help him tolerate an annoyance by building coping mechanisms. Hope this helps.

we have horses also because my grandparents breed them and we board horses so I have been riding when I was real little and I love them but my dog Indy can get me calmed down the best, he just somehow knows when I'm in trouble or going to be.

Well you are already a dog family which is a plus! My 18-year-old son with Asperger's said our dog (cavalier king charles spaniel) saved him during middle and high school. Even on his worst days, he'd come home and cuddle and pet the dog and you could just see the stress melt off of him. When I ask my son what helped him--he'll say getting the dog, his therapist and that we understood Asperger's and helped him understand himself. I'm so glad we got a dog. Good luck deciding what to do!