Welcome Oreo!

**Don** · 06-25-2022, 05:05 PM

My son, who is a high-functioning Autistic, has an emotional support dog, Ruby who is a brindle, Mountain Cur (I know I never heard of the breed before either). Ruby is a good dog and has been AWESOME for my son...he has lost over 100 pounds, now will leave the house without a fight (the dog usually goes with him) is thousands of time more socially open - will actually make eye contact and INITIATE conversations with strangers and women - this is a HUGE deal for him. Needless to say we are beyond thrilled for him and his improvements and we lat it ALL on the dog`s presence.

Well, Ruby`s only `playmate` is our 14 year old Boxer Maxi, who will try to play, but just can`t keep up for more than a few minutes at a time. Ruby loves going to doggie day care, but that`s not always feasible. So prodded by the wife, I agreed to another puppy.

Long story short (I know, too late) we picked up Oreo (the boys named her). She is a Blue-Heeler/Beagle (mother) - Boxer (father) mix. Mom is a 25 pound dog, dad is a 50 pound dog, so I estimate we are looking at a 30 - 40 pound dog. She has the Blue-Heeler coloring and is full of energy
Ruby isn`t too sure of Oreo quite yet but she is warming up to her. There are trying to play, but Oreo is still too small...Ruby has never been around a puppy since she was one, but they are doing really well only being together four days.

Here`s a pic of a blurry Ruby and Oreo while they were playing.

**Coatings=crack** · 06-26-2022, 03:48 AM

I get Oreo. We had a tan and white Pomeranian when I was a kid. Me and my sis named her Biscuit. And happy that Ruby has helped your son find his Mojo.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

**PoisonTheWell** · 06-26-2022, 12:24 PM

Welcome Oreo! And support dogs are incredible. The amount of training that they go through is really awesome. Happy to hear Ruby is making such a difference.

**Don** · 06-26-2022, 02:48 PM

Originally Posted by PoisonTheWell

Welcome Oreo! And support dogs are incredible. The amount of training that they go through is really awesome. Happy to hear Ruby is making such a difference.

Ruby isn`t a "certified" support dog. We got her when officials raided a REALLY P.O.S. puppy farm, they rescued over 40 pups a few counties away from us and distributed them though out the state to numerous other rescues to be adopted out. It was big news in NE Ohio. Well, Ruby was one of those and she has issues herself from that place still. Separation Anxiety and fear are the top two, the poor dog is taking Prozac for her nerves and it seems to be working.

We got her specifically for my son as an experiment. He was to be in charge of her feeding, grooming and general care. The dog latched onto my son as he has been taking her to puppy training classes since she was 10 weeks old, she is now a year and a half. She sleeps in his bed, listens to him (a little better than the rest of us), he takes her for 1 to 1 1/2 mile walks weather permitting a few times a week. Her fear level makes training classes more difficult, but we don`t care. She has had to repeat every "level" a few times before passing the course, and we don`t care, we would pay to have her go to classes for the rest of her life if need be, because it`s the interaction between my son and Ruby that we are after, the more the better. As you can see from my original post, the `experiment` was a resounding success.

He even APPLIED FOR A JOB!!!!! at the Doggy Day Care where she goes. He is 30 years old and HAS NEVER, EVER even spoken of getting a job before. That was HUGE!

So while she is not "Officially Certified," for all intents and purposes, she IS a support dog and NO ONE will ever tell me she isn`t with all the positives my son has achieved since getting her. I think all the working with her and seeing HER improvements at his hand really helped him a lot too.