Jonas

“Our son Jonas is often a quiet and introverted 11-year-old boy.
He usually keeps to himself, even at school he seeks little contact with other children.
But he feels safe at home, where all his pent-up frustration and excessive demands come to the fore… he feels safe enough to drop the facade.

It took a long time for us, his parents, with the help of doctors and other specialists, to find out what was going on: Jonas is living with the consequences of prenatal damage caused by some kind of poison or perhaps alcohol or drugs.
What exactly is not known, because Jonas was given up for adoption as a baby by the woman who gave birth to him….”

With these difficulties, the family approached us and asked if an assistance dog could be a friend and helper for Jonas.
We have since worked with several (adoptive) & foster families, trained a specially selected assistance dog to the individual needs of the child and family and agreed.
The first meetings were very positive and it was nice to see how Jonas blossoms and calms down in the presence of our dogs.
An assistance dog specially trained for Jonas and his family will learn to shield Jonas from overwhelming stimuli, calm him down before the big breakdown comes, learn to fetch the parents when Jonas needs help, support him in everyday life and remind him of everyday things like eating and drinking.

The training takes around 2 years, is accompanied by several major aptitude tests, includes an extensive health check… and if all goes well, Jonas and his new four-legged partner can get to know each other and start their future together.

After successful training and testing, the two of them, together with their parents, will become a recognized human-assistance dog community (MAG) and the dog will be a recognized “aid”.
However, health insurance companies still refuse to cover the costs of an “FASD assistance dog” for a variety of reasons.
Even studies that prove its effectiveness are of no interest to them.

The training and examination requirements are extensive and cost a lot of money.
Even though the training is largely voluntary, there are costs for two examinations, a huge health check, equipment, food and insurance.

Every euro helps to make Jonas’ dream of having his own assistance dog possible.
Help us to make the eyes of Jonas and his parents light up quickly:

Assistance dogs Helping Paws: Wonderful connections between humans and assistance dogs in perfect harmony.

Please give us your support for this, because only together we can do it. We appreciate donations to our account at:

Sparkasse KölnBonn
IBAN: DE04 3705 0198 1934 0724 79
BIC: COLSDE33xxx
Purpose: Jonas