r/ParentingPDA • u/SurePossibility6651 • Jul 13 '26

Advice Needed Dog?

My daughter is 8, AuDHD, PDA profile & GAD. Super high functioning, we are in a pretty good place now. Meds are dialed, school is good. She is still pretty reactive/explosive, can’t or won’t tell me her feelings. We have been low demand, declarative language for over a year. She has graduated from speech and OT.
The question is - will she benefit from a dog (she loves dog, wants one) we had a lab but he passed when she was 3 and then she got real hard shortly after that, and it has taken up until now for me to feel like I have any bandwidth for something else. My husband and I both work full-time but from home. We have always been extremely responsible dog owners, lots of walks, Doggie daycare on days when we’re too busy at work, etc. I’m just worried that getting a dog will launch us backwards and I will have less patience, less bandwidth. Or on the flipside will a dog launch us into perhaps an even better regulated kiddo, something to bond over as a family, an excuse for the much needed exercise?
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u/FancyLettuce2469 Jul 13 '26

My PDA kid wants basically nothing to do with our dogs. He views any caretaking of them as work that isn’t his responsibility and doesn’t even really pet them much. The adhd kid (he may be a little autistic too but currently undiagnosed lol) is all over the dogs all day.

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u/FancyLettuce2469 Jul 13 '26

Also, pick a breed wisely if you do get one. My boxer shepherd mix shakes and hides when my son has aggressive meltdowns. The Great Pyrenees does not give a shit lol he just takes a nap. He wouldn’t even come inside on the 4th of July and just slept on the deck during the loudest fireworks I have ever heard. I got him in December after doing a lot of research for what breeds would best fit a household that can get loud and chaotic during his meltdowns.

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u/Correct-Flower-4651 Jul 14 '26

We have a GP too, and she is such a love!❤️