Learning Curve

Sunny came over for more training with us tonight!  Sunny knows what her job is and she knows the commands, but now she needs to start transferring those skills to Charlie.  So tonight we worked on that a bit.  We showed Charlie how Sunny can help him if he's feeling scared, overwhelmed, angry, upset or sad.  Sunny is trained to lay on Charlie when he needs that support and reassurance or sometimes that deep pressure from Sunny laying on him.

Sunny doing "lap" when Charlie is sitting in a chair

Sunny will get up onto Charlie's lap when he is sitting to help calm him down when needed.  This can be helpful at school, church, out to eat (we rarely eat out) or at home when Charlie is having a difficult time.  

We also practiced the same thing while Charlie was laying down.  This will be helpful when Charlie is already in meltdown mode and needs more heavier pressure and reassurance. Also will be huge for bedtime to help Charlie get to sleep and hopefully sleep more soundly.

I think this is my new favorite. Sunny settled in with him quickly

We also wanted to get a little experience riding in the truck with Sunny.  We know this riding arrangement isn't ideal- we'd love to have a little more space for her to ride, but this is how we'll roll (literally) for now until we can save up enough for a new vehicle.

Wait....I see 2 dog heads.....

We know you might wonder why Sunny needs to ride IN the truck with us.  Well, car rides have always been a huge stressor for Charlie.  Being on the road for an hour is about his limit.  We've had to get creative if we are going on a longer road trip.  And we'd love to start doing more traveling as a family.  We hope traveling by plane is a reality in the near future as well- and yes, Sunny will go on the plane as well. 

Oh, you see 2 dog heads too?!  Ha! Well, Sunny's friend, Thor, decided to go for a ride with us too!  To say we had a full vehicle is an understatement!

Sunny's friend, Thor

Tyler and I will continue 1:1 training with Mike on Tuesday next week and will likely come over another day or two next week to work with Charlie as well.  We may have an opportunity to take a test run at a restaurant with Sunny soon.  Mike has some connections in Rochester with a restaurant owner who is willing to let us come in during "off" hours to try eating out as a family with Sunny along.  This will be the biggest change and learning curve- getting comfortable having Sunny with us EVERYWHERE.  But we're excited because we know this is going to make a difference for our sweet boy.