School and More

Sky has been going with Ryan to school regularly the past 3 weeks. We bring her in around 12:30pm and she stays with him the remainder of the day.  Then she rides home on the bus with him.  The afternoon is a bit easier for them because they don't have as many transitions and it tends to be a bit more constant.  Overall, things are going well.  She sometimes gets a bit restless at the end of the day. We are not sure exactly what that is about.  The majority of the days we take her for a walk so she can get some exercise & potty before going into school. 

Last week she was in band and was "singing along". Oh, my!  I was reassured it was not a problem.  Ryan has band at the end of the day today so I'm going to go in and check out the "situation". 

One of the cues Ryan wants to work on with Sky is retrieving his back pack from the closet at school.  At the end of the day when he is ready to pack up he needs to wait for someone to bring him his backpack. Ryan sits about 4 feet from the closet so it will not be a long haul.  We are going to practice first after school without other kids or back packs around to distract her.  Next step will be add in the other students & their back packs.

She has been doing really well with retrieving dropped items for Ryan at school.  Yesterday she was feeling particularly helpful and picked up another student's dropped pencil! 

Susquehanna Service Dogs sent a volunteer and demo dog into the school.  They did a real nice job with the mini-assemblies.  They were able to show various cues that service dogs can perform and went over service dog etiquette.  It was well received by the students and staff.  For the most part, the kids in his class just ignore Sky.  And most times she is so quiet that you don't even know she is there.

At home we have been working on various cues.  She is now "finding the phone".  When Ryan gives her the cue she will find the phone and bring it back to him. 

She is also working on getting her bowl from off the kennel and putting it on the floor so Ryan can put the food in it.  She first goes "up" on the kennel then "takes" her food bowl and puts it on the floor.  Ryan gives her the cue to "sit & stay".  He then puts the food in the dish and gives her the "ok"  to eat.  After she is done eating she picks the bowl back up and puts it on the kennel.  Ryan is the only person who is allowed to feed her in order to promote bonding.  He is very committed and knows when it is time for her to eat. 

Ryan is also working with her to carry his dirty clothes to the hamper outside his room and carry his book upstairs at night.