Charlie is pictured with his new service dog, Onxy.
Submitted Photo
By Aila Boyd
aboyd@mainstreernewspapers.com
Charlie Laucher is a 4-year-old who has high functioning autism with sensory processing disorder, which makes going out into the community difficult for him.
On Valentine’s Day this year, Charlie received his service dog, Onxy. Because Charlie needed a dog that is hypoallergenic, Onxy is a 1-year-old poodle and sheep dog mix.
“She’s a very smart dog,” Charlie’s mother, Meggan, said.
The dog will be used to calm and distract Charlie when things become overwhelming for him.
Meggan said that her son was in a state of awe when he first met Onxy. “He started giggling and was overwhelmed with excitement,” she said.
Onxy came from Service Dogs by SDWR, a Virginia-based nonprofit organization that provides dogs to those living with invisible disabilities such as autism, diabetes, post-traumatic stress disorder, and seizure disorders.
She was trained from a young age to understand standard commands and to remain calm in different environments.
For the first three months that Charlie has Onxy, the two will bond before training specific to Charlie will start. A trainer will continue to work with the two and will help retrain Onxy as Charlie’s needs change.
In order to get Onxy, the family had to raise money, which it did primarily through asking friends and family to help out on Facebook.
“We’re thankful for the support of our community in being able to get the dog,” Meggan said. She added that Service Dogs by SDWR made the year and a half fundraising process stress free.
When they first started raising money, Meggan said that Charlie would experience “meltdowns” at school, but that he’s now started to verbalize his thoughts and regularly asks to take walks in order to calm down.
For those who come into contact with someone with a service dog, Meggan said that they need to know that the dog is working and that they’re focused on taking care of their owner. For that reason, she stressed the importance of ignoring service dogs and avoiding making eye contact as not to distract them.
Now that Onxy has been with Charlie for a few weeks, Meggan said that she views her as being “part of the family.”
