Hi all,

I am the mother of a 28 weeker who is now a happy healthy 3 year old..... with a few issues. He has SPD, oral aversion and anxiety. I am really hoping to get him a service animal to help with his sensory seeking, his refusal to eat and his routine of waking every 2 hours around the clock (he's still stuck on his NICU schedule, 3 years later). He is a seeker and bangs his head or "humps," and when he nurses he insists on twiddling which drives me up a wall. I have tried many substitutes for his tactile needs but he refuses them all. I'm hoping a therapy dog would distract him from those needs and also have that feeling of skin that I just cannot find an alternative for.

My biggest problem is that we are renters and I worry about running into problems with the "new" description of service animal. I could easily get him a "pet" that could be therapeutic for him, but a landlord could also easily refuse to rent to us with "pets." Can anyone think of "tasks" that a therapy dog could perform for a 3 yr old with sensory, sleep, and anxiety issues? He has extremely heightened hearing and loud sounds trigger his anxiety and he will drop everything and run to the safety of a trusted adult. He hears trains, fire engines, motorcycles, hot rods, etc.. loooong before we do. By the time we hear it, he is already running for us. I'm afraid that in his panic, he is going to run into traffic or fall over something trying to reach us. I'm sure a dog could be trained to alert us of approaching trains, sirens, etc.. but I don't know if that would qualify as a task that cannot be replaced by something else.

Anyone have any suggestions? TIA.