On 9/23/10 Ryan got to "interview" with 3 wonderful dogs. SSDs Journey, Misty, & Thunder. They were all black labs. When we went to the room they asked Ryan numerous questions about his daily life and what he wanted the dog to do for him. It was quite an intense experience.
After the preliminary interview, the dogs were brought out one by one. Ryan was able to spend some time getting to know the dogs. Then he needed to give each dog various commands. "Come", "Sit", & "Down". They all responded to Ryan's commands exceptionally well. He also had to take the dogs for a walk while in his wheelchair.
The one dog, Thunder, was so funny because Ryan was being very tentative walking him that he was doing a lot of stopping and going with his chair. Every time his wheelchair would start the motors in the back of his chair would begin to "whir". Thunder was funny because when he heard the noise he would stop and look back at his tail to try and figure out the noise.
Ryan also walked the dogs while using his crutches. That proved a bit challenging. The dogs didn't know what to make of the crutches. They did keep looking at Ryan like they were asking "what do you want me to do?". The whole process was videotaped and when Ryan is matched they will mimic his walking style with his crutches to train the dog to be able to walk with Ryan. (I would really like to see that - I can't figure out his walking pattern with the crutches most of the time!).
Now for the waiting part...we were supposed to find out in 2-3 weeks if he was matched with a dog. He has a 50/50 chance. Unfortunately, the lead trainer has been out on medical leave so a decision has still not been made. Maybe next week?
