Puppy Love
By NAO GUNJI
Rafu English Assistant Editor
Friday, March 28, 2008

The Sakurai family says their autism canine Rocko is more than just man’s best friend.

MARIO G. REYES/Rafu Shimpo
Kevin Sakurai, 8, poses with his new friend, brother,
helper and interpreter Rocko. The 2-year-old Golden
Retriever is an autism service dog, which is trained/
certified to be a Police, Retrieval, Seizure Alert, Search
Alert and Psychiatric Assistance K9.

COSTAMESA.—Kevin seems almost indifferent as Rocko enthusiastically greets guests at the door of their Costa Mesa home. Jumping and panting heavily, Rocko expresses excite­ment with his entire body. He loves people and is not afraid to show it. Meanwhile, Kevin checks out the guests from the other end of the room keeping his distance. It’s not that he dislikes people, but generally, Kevin’s world is reserved only for those clos­est to him—himself, mom, dad, and lately, Rocko.

Kevin Sakurai, who recently turned 8, was diagnosed with autism when he was 3 and a half. He has a motor speech disorder called apraxia, which is characterized by an impaired ability to coordinate the sequential, articula­tory movements necessary to generate speech sounds. His language skill is equivalent of a 2-year-old.

Kevin is not completely finished with potty training yet. He can spell and read a few dozen three-letter words, but because of his lack of language skill, his mom, Martina said she is not sure of what exactly his academic skill level is. Kevin is mechanically inclined. He knows how to turn on the family laptop and get on the Internet browser to play his favorite video games.

He is also into fixing electronics.

“He changes the batteries of his own toys,“ his dad, Russ said smiling. “He does it more often than we like, because he likes to do it even when the batteries are not fully dead. So right now, we are out of AA batteries.”

Kevin has significant behavioral problems and no sense of danger. He would run out in the streets or in the parking lot without stopping for vehicles or people. Once he becomes hyperactive, Martina and Russ have to chase him around to make sure of his safety.

“We rarely went out to eat because Kevin couldn’t wait for the food. You have 10-15 minutes of waiting and he would be climbing over the booth, he would be making all this noise, start­ing to go like this (tapping her fingers) with everything,” Martina told The Rafu Shimpo last month.

Raising a child is a serious busi­ness, but raising a child with autism creates more stress on the family. Martina, who aspires to be a librar­ian some day, can’t work a regular job. She said she wouldn’t change anything about Kevin, but her life is a constant battle.

Last summer, Kevin’s behavior got worse. He couldn’t focus on anything longer than 30 seconds and was con­stantly moving on to something else to do, somewhere else to go.

Luckily for the Sakurai family, Rocko, a 2-year-old Golden Retriever, was about to join the family.

“I feel like I have a helper, finally. It’s literally, kind of a life saver, be­cause with Rocko, he came at a time when things were very, very stress­ful,” Martina said.

This is how Rocko entered Kevin’s world.

Bob Taylor, president/trainer of the DOGWISHFoundation brought some of his autism service dogs to one of Kevin’s therapy groups late last year.

At the DOGWITHFoundation, au­tism service dogs are trained and cer­tified to be Police, Retrieval, Seizure Alert, Search Alert and Psychiatric Assistance K9s.

Being dog lovers, Martina and Russ considered the option of having a ser­vice dog for Kevin and decided to visit Taylor and his dogs in Phelan, Calif.

The Sakurais said Kevin and Rocko bonded from the moment they met.

“Kevin didn’t care. He wanted to leave, he wasn’t happy to be there,” Martina recalled the visit to the foundation’s kennel last November. “Russ needed to carry him because he wanted to go. He was very scared of all the dogs barking… Once we got to Rocko, Kevin, all of sudden started to laugh. I know it sounds ridiculous, but that’s how it happened. He just started laughing and got all excited.”

And so did Rocko. Taylor immedi­ately let Rocko out of the kennel. The family sat with the trainer to discuss further. After a few hours, Kevin started having a meltdown and ran to the door.

Martina remembers the incident, “Rocko went over there and nudged him with his nose, and Kevin totally calmed down. Kevin started to mel­low out and walk around. Rocko was scanning, ‘Where is he? Where is he? Where is he?’ When we saw that, we were like, ‘Oh my god, we had to get the dog.’”

Taylor, who has decades of experi­ence in service dog training, was also pleased with what he saw between Kevin and Rocko.

“One of the things that we have found very important is to be able to match the personalities of the child and the dog. The maturity level is very im­portant,” said the veteran trainer. “Out of all the dogs in my kennel, Kevin picked one particular dog and com­municated. To me, it was huge.”

Taylor started training dogs for people with autism about 10 years ago. He said placing a dog to a child with autism is “the toughest thing” since the child is extremely sensitive to his/her environment. However, the demand of autism service dogs has been doubling every year as people become more aware of them and their potential.

The Sakurais came home with Rocko that day, and the parents saw changes in their lives right away.

Russ remembers how Kevin hated to go shopping. Kevin had meltdowns in the store and always tried to run away, so shopping was an impossible task with him. Since Rocko’s arrival, Kevin can’t wait to go to the stores. He loves taking Rocko for a walk, and the attention that his beautiful dog with a “Service Dog” vest receives, seems to tickle Kevin’s previously hidden sense of pride.

The family now enjoys occasional dinners out too.

“Kevin sits there and when he starts to get anxious, he just looks at Rocko and gets happy. It’s not something we taught him. It’s some bond they have that calms him for whatever reason,” Martina continued. “So, now we can go out to eat, we can go to the stores, and he literally asks for the stores. ‘Mommy, Mommy, store. Walk, Rocko.’”

Between Kevin and Rocko there are no words. There is no expectation. The dog detects the child’s needs and feel­ings and helps him in times of crisis. According to Taylor, service dogs are trained to focus and react to people’s brainwaves. Rocko’s brainwaves balance out Kevin’s, and that’s how Kevin gets stabilized physically and emotionally.

Due to his sensory problems, Kevin often refuses to hold hands even with his parents, but he won’t let go of Rocko’s leash. When Rocko senses danger, he will sit and prevent Kevin from walking toward it.

Having a big animal like Rocko is work. You have to walk him, feed him and have space to accommodate him. It’s like having another child. Rocko goes everywhere the Sakurais go. The last few months have been definitely an adjustment period for them, but “overall, it’s been wonderful,” Martina said. “He’s a big, big helper. He just makes us all happy. He makes Kevin happy.”

“It doesn’t get any better. It’s a totally different type of existence,” Taylor spoke about the changes Autism service dogs can bring to families. “Getting a dog identically close and suitable to the child is possible. It’s paramount.”

Working dogs like Rocko don’t come cheap. Martina and Russ have to raise $10,000, which the DOGWISH Foundation will match, to keep the dog. Governmental funding is almost non-existent for the cause.

Nonetheless, the Sakurais are satis­fied customers. So satisfied, they de­cided to help the Foundation. Martina and Russ have donated three Labradors for Taylor to train. They also help the non-profit organization look for donors who can provide equipment for kids and materials to build a more Autism-friendly facility.

“It’s a help,” Martina continued. “That’s what (Rocko) is, and I think a lot more families need to know about this because it’s helped our family so much. It helps bond the family.”

From his decades of experience, Taylor knows that having a child with Autism can be tougher on fathers. They oftentimes feel betrayed. The trainer said that Autism service dogs can func­tion as an agent to emotionally unite Autistic children and their fathers.

“Russ Sakurai is a hero. He loves his son, he works for his son, he feels the pain that most men would never understand, because this kid isn’t able to communicate with him and respond to him,” Taylor said. “Now all of a sudden, they’ve got Rocko. They’ve started working with Rocko together. His son focuses, he listens, he pays attention. He makes eye-to-eye contact for the first time in his life. They both have a common denominator and icon they are attracted to, they want to share the ownership together.”

With Rocko on board, Martina hopes Kevin to be more independent and focus on what he is capable of, rather than his deficiencies. She hopes Kevin will be talking by the time he’s 20 and have a career one day, and Rocko to be his bridge in social situ­ations. Russ feels that the most im­provement Kevin can make is what is best for him. He wants to keep pushing Kevin to encourage him to make one accomplishment after another.

During their daily walk to a nearby park, Kevin holds Rocko’s leash closely. They maintain a good pace and nobody is really pulling anybody except a few adjustments and guid­ance Rocko has to make for Kevin. Rocko’s tail wags like a metronome as they walk. He’s happy. He knows that going to the park means he gets to be just a dog, running around and peeing on the tree. Although Kevin doesn’t express it verbally, he feels how happy his buddy is, and that enables him to focus on the walk.

Rocko resides in Kevin’s mind, and Kevin knows that he’s a very lucky boy.

For more information on the DOG­WISH Foundation or to make contribu­tions, log on to www,dogwishfoundation.com or call (866) 875-9364.