Some of you may have noticed a new face at Prep. Whitby is a two year old black Labrador retriever who was trained by the National Service Dogs of Canada (Ontario). Last November Whitby was paired up with her new owner Rowan McIntyre (age 11). Rowan was born with Down syndrome and then, at the age of five, he was also diagnosed with Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) which falls under the autism umbrella. Whitby has been the most wonderful perk to Rowan having more than one diagnosis; NSD only trains dogs for children with autism.

Our family applied for the dog in Nov 2006. Once accepted, we then had to wait three long years and were expected to fundraise $18 000 towards the dog. We did manage to raise the full amount thanks to friends, family and Calgary's Petland stores which ran a fundraiser called "Paws for Autism".

Rowan loves his dog. He talks to her, reads to her, sleeps with her, feeds her, walks her, and just wants to be with her. Whitby is legally permitted in public places so she accompanies Rowan to the movies, to the mall, to Prep, to the grocery store and even on airplanes. Her presence calms him and he settles much more easily into new situations when she is by his side. We hope that by January of next year Rowan will be completely independent with Whitby and thus able to take her to school. It would be nice if he could have his best buddy with him when he heads off to Jr. High School in September of 2010.

If you see Rowan and Whitby at Prep feel free to ask if you can pat her. She and Rowan both love the attention.