Individuals with autism spectrum disorder, especially children, can benefit greatly from the presence of an autism assistance dog. Like other service animals, autism assistance dogs perform a wide range of tasks to help their handler.
These tasks range from interrupting self-harm behaviors and retrieving important items to helping with social engagement and providing sensory support. When it comes to the breed of the autism assistance dog, some are much worse than others and are typically not expected to exceed at the skills involved in autism assistance.
Our article will list the worst dog breeds for autism while reviewing why they don’t make good autism assistance dogs. We’ll also list dog breeds that make some of the best autism assistance dogs.
5 Types of Dog Breeds That Make the Worst Autism Assistance Dogs
There’s an endless list of dog breeds that can be considered the worst for autism assistance. Instead of listing each of these dog breeds one by one, we’ll categorize them based on their characteristics.
1) Livestock Guardian Dogs
Livestock guardian dogs make some of the worst dog breeds for autism assistance. These dogs are inherently suspicious and are wary of strangers. While their large frames enable them to protect their owners from threats, they aren’t ideal dogs for autism assistance.
Common livestock guardian dogs you can remove from your list for autism assistance are Anatolian Shepherd, Kuvasz, Caucasian Shepherd Dog, Tibetan Mastiff, Great Pyrenees, and Central Asian Shepherd Dog.
2) High-Energy Dog Breeds
High-energy dog breeds aren’t suitable for autism assistance due to their high exercise needs, which makes them prone to getting distracted during training and running off to release excess energy. Although a few high-energy dog breeds can be successful, the number of them is too few and far between.
Popular high-energy dog breeds to remove from your list for autism assistance are Jack Russell Terrier, Australian Cattle Dog, Dalmatian, Irish Setter, English Pointer, and Vizsla.
3) Aggressive Dog Breeds
Not all aggressive dogs are livestock guardians. There are other dog breeds that typically fail autism assistance dog training due to their aggression towards unfamiliar people and animals. It is a highly undesirable trait in service animal training, especially for autism assistance.
Some of the common aggressive dog breeds unfit for autism assistance are the Chihuahua, American Pit Bull Terrier, Chow Chow, Akita Inu, Dogo Argentino, and Doberman Pinscher.
4) Scenthound Breeds
Scenthound dog breeds would be among the worst dog breeds for autism due to their tendency to follow their noses. These dogs are highly unreliable for all kinds of service animal work as they can leave everything they’re doing to go after a scent that catches their attention.
While all scenthound breeds aren’t good picks for autism assistance, the popular ones include Beagle, Basset Hound, Dachshund, Bloodhound, Basenji, and American Foxhound.
5) High Prey Drive Dog Breeds
Just as scenthound dog breeds are among the worst dog breeds for autism due to going after their noses, high prey drive dog breeds are similar. Dog breeds with high drive aren’t suitable for autism assistance due to their strong instincts to chase and catch any small wild animal.
Dogs with high prey drive that make into the worst dog breeds for autism list are Greyhound, Airedale Terrier, Saluki, Rhodesian Ridgeback, English Cocker Spaniel, and Alaskan Malamute.
Finest Dog Breeds for Autism
While the above are the worst dog breeds for autism assistance, some breeds are well-suited to this task.
We give you an overview of the best dog breeds for autism below.
● Labrador Retriever: Labs are highly intelligent and hard-working dogs that are at the top of the list when it comes to autism assistance.
● Bernese Mountain Dog: The affectionate personality and the bulky frame of the Bernese Mountain Dog make the breed an exceptional autism assistance dog, especially for kids.
● Newfoundland: The Newfoundland is a loving dog breed with a calm disposition that makes a well-rounded service dog for people with autism.
● Great Dane: A true gentle giant, the Great Dane is another excellent dog breed for autism assistance, both for adults and children.
● German Shepherd: The intelligence and trainability of the German Shepherd eliminate the worries about the breed’s prey drive, making them a reliable breed for autism.
Exceptions Among the Worst Dog Breeds for Autism
While the focus of our article has been the worst dog breeds for autism assistance, note that there can be exceptions to the breeds we’ve mentioned. For instance, Dalmatians can be taught to manage their high energy in intense situations and become excellent autism assistance dogs for children with their athletic bodies.
You can apply the same to any other dog breed mentioned in our list. As long as an autism assistance dog is properly trained and assists a handler with autism spectrum disorder, the breed and the characteristics it brings won’t matter. However, if you want a better chance at training a skilled emotional support animal, staying away from the breeds on our list can help you make the right choice.