Welcome to Ryan and Sky's Blog!

Welcome to our blog. This blog was setup to follow our son's, Ryan, journey to receiving a service dog.



Ryan is 10 years old and has cerebral palsy which makes his leg muscles very tight and difficult to walk. He uses forearm crutches for short distances and an electric wheelchair for longer distances.



Tasks that are easy for a typical child such as opening a door or picking up an item off the floor can be very difficult for Ryan.



We applied for a service dog for Ryan in April 2008. He was partnered with a female black lab named Sky in August of 2011.



Please join us in our journey with Ryan and Sky!



















Saturday, August 13, 2011

The Weekend!

Boy, we all needed a weekend! Team Training is so exciting, but exhausting. Sky is adjusting well. We are still trying to figure out her personality and nuances. We have been working on reinforcing some of the cues while we are at home.

Ryan has been taking her for walks. We have been using the Comfort Trainer for walks. She's not a big fan of it, but she tolerates it. Ryan feels like he has more control when she wears it. Our goal is to eventually transition to just the regular leash once they learn each other's behaviors better. As you can see from the picture, they have incorporated walk breaks into their walk.

He also took her for a walk with his wheelchair on high speed. She really seemed to enjoy it. It was funny to see them going down the street. We found she really likes to chew. Right now Ryan is in the bathroom (Sorry, Ryan!) and she is in there with him chewing on a marrow bone.

I got some great video of her retrieving a fallen pencil. Ryan is also shaping her to push a soccer ball with her nose. She is doing so well at it. She's a fast learner. Unfortunately, I can't seem to get the videos to post. :-(

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