From our trainer Beverly, who is working with mom Brandi and her son, Alex, who has autism. They chose a wonderful dog, Will, who has been fostered and trained by Beverly.

“At our first session, I discussed with Brandi any concerns she had. Brandi states that Will does wonderfully with Alex, but she would like for him to go to Alex more if he has a meltdown and stay with him. She will work with Will by keeping him on a leash and bringing him to Alex if she notices him getting upset (before meltdown level), and engage Alex with Will by having Alex pet Will and encouraging Will to lick Alex to sense his body chemistry and to calm Alex.

I showed Brandi and Alex the “Leave it” game to practice with Will and how to work on “Watch Me” with him. Will already knows “sit”, “heel”, and how to “give kisses” to dear Alex.

Brandi is receiving funding from Any Baby Can to help with the training of Will. They are a wonderful organization, and we are grateful for their assistance!

Next session, we will take Will to Petsmart and work on store skills.”