Ryan and Sky have been doing well. Couple bumps in the road, but making nice progress overall. Sky seems to have settled into school. I went in today to watch them and they have the elevator down pat. I was very impressed.
One issue they were having was Sky sniffing at everything. There's quite a wide array of smells in the school and very tempting for a dog. We discussed it with the trainer and found that Ryan was not providing enough positive reinforcement for good behavior (i.e paying attention to him) when they were walking. So we worked with Ryan to click and give treats while driving his wheelchair. This took quite a bit of practice, but he's starting to get it! We have also noticed an improvement in the sniffing issue now that is he is providing more positive reinforcement.
It is much easier for Ryan when he is in his wheelchair versus walking on his crutches. There are multiple reasons for that 1)he has better control over Sky 2) he can go faster and it gives her less time/opportunity to sniff 3) he can give treats while still moving.
She has definitely developed a bond with Ryan. She will often go check on him if he is another room. She also stays upstairs with him in the morning while he is getting dressed instead of coming downstairs with the family dogs.
Another cool cue she knows is how to tug off Ryan's coat sleeve. This is real helpful when he is in his wheelchair and his arm gets stuck in the coat sleeve. We asked the trainer about teaching this to her and evidently she already knows it! We just never had the opportunity, nor did we think about it in August during Team Training.
