Our Foster Puppy, Skye.

We are currently fostering a puppy for Autism Assistance Dogs Ireland, called Skye. Anna is very interested in the work that assistance dogs carry out and after researching the various organisations in Ireland asked if we could foster a puppy for a year. We thought that being involved with an assistance dog charity and all the training that is involved would be very good experience for us as a family and so last March Skye, then 9 weeks old, came to live with us. She will be with us for approximately 12 months and then go on for 3-6 months of advanced training before being matched with an autistic child and going to live with the family as that childs 'forever friend'.

Skye immediately fitted in as one of the family, fortunately with Amber accepting her very quickly too. As Amber was 18 months old at that stage we weren't as green as we were when we first had Amber and so we found the early training and housebreaking easier. We all quickly became very fond of Skye too. 

As part of Skyes training our job was to socialise her and expose her to as many different environments and experiences as possible during her early development so that she wouldn't be fazed by anything when she was working as an adult dog. She has a special jacket which she wears when she is 'working' and this allows her access into all public places. As a very young pup she wasn't able to walk very far so sometimes she hijacked Tiarnans buggy in order to get all her socialisation!

All the children take turns handling Skye so that she gets used to children of different ages. Skye has always been very good in shops. It's amazing, but even from a very young age Skye has known when she's meant to be in working mode and is so calm and well behaved. As a flat coated retriever she is a very energetic dog and at home in the garden can be completely loopy having many a puppy mad moment just running round in circles for the fun of it yet with her jacket on I can safely take her through the crystal section of a department store!

The children also have AADI T-shirts in order to raise awareness of the charity when we go to particular events or fundraising activities.

As a retriever Skye is very food motivated which helps with training generally as you can use food as a reward but it meant we had to make sure that she could walk through a food shop without trying to eat anything and in a cafe she is meant to be able to settle down quietly without fussing for food. This entailed a few coffee shop trips which the children were pretty happy about!

Being involved with AADI means the children have also met some of the qualified working dogs and below are the children with Charlie, a working Labrador. He is an amazing dog and is so calm and well behaved. He has been with a family with a child with autism for about a year now and they say that the difference Charlie has made to all their lives is remarkable. 

Here Anna is introducing Skye to one of our chickens as it is very important that she learns not to chase any other animal she comes across like a cat or bird. She has also met cows as they are in the field ajoining our garden!

As is typical of her breed, Skye loves water. My parents live near the sea so Skye and Amber get to have a run on the beach most weekends.

Amber took over the role of 'mothering' Skye and takes care of her or corrects her if she steps out of line. They have become very attached and have great fun.

Overall we feel that having Skye has been a very positive experience so far. The children have got to meet so many new people and understand much more about what is involved in training assistance dogs and the difference that they can make. When we are out and about people often come up to the children to ask about Skye which helps the children's communication skills too. The hardest part is going to be when Skye has to  leave us but the children have known that that has been the deal from the outset so we are hoping that  we can help them accept the letting go part of the process. Anna has also kept a blog about Skyes year with us so that they have a record of her time with us along with the memories. If you would like a look her URL is www.skyesyear.blogspot.com