Jake!

On Monday, April 18 2016 I received a call from Laura at Good Dog! Autism Companions informing us that we have matched!!! After a year and two months wait, we now have a service dog for Wyatt!! His trainer calls him Jake, we will soon decide his forever name.

Good Dog! Autism Companions is based in Fallbrook, CA. In July, as Jake's main handler, I will travel to California for a five day boot camp training. During this training, I will bond with Jake and learn everything that I will need to know to be a service dog handler. After the five days of training, Jake will graduate from a dog in training, to a service dog. Then I get to bring Jake home to Wyatt and he will forever be part of our family!

We happened to be in Disney World when we received the matching news! We awoke early on Tuesday morning to go enjoy our last day of Magic Kingdom fun.  I happened to glance at my emails, while waiting for the boys to wake up. I had an email from Laura informing me that Sam, Jake's trainer, lived only 3 hours away from us. Of course, I immediately responded wanting to know more details. After a few email exchanges with Sam, we scheduled a time on Wednesday for us to meet Jake!

I am pretty sure I didn't sleep much Tuesday night (except long enough to have a dream that Jake had a huge hole in his side..you think I was nervous?!). I was so excited about meeting Jake. So amazed that we got this opportunity, as most families don't get to meet their dogs till boot camp training.For the last year, I had played the moment I would meet Wyatt's service dog in my head at least a million times and now it is happening!!

Needless to say, Jake was awesome (and so is Sam). He is super sweet, loving, with a silly side to him (perfect for us).We got lots of kisses. Wyatt didn't acknowledge Jake much, which was not a surprise. We were in a new environment, with a new person, and a new dog. It usually takes Wyatt awhile to warm up to anything that is new.  And by awhile, I mean weeks if not months.

I had no problem loving on Jake. However I do have to admit, that I totally felt intimidated not knowing commands. It was really awesome to watch Sam give Jake commands! You can see the respect and love Jake has for Sam. I am so excited to be that person for Jake and help create a wonderful bond between him and Wyatt. I have huge faith that Sam will help me get there.

Stay tuned for more details and hopefully Jake's forever name. Laura and Sam informed us that changing Jake's name is not confusing to him. A dog doesn't recognize him/herself by their name, simply their name is more of a command. If the child can rename the dog a name he/she picks out it is an opportunity for child/dog to bond. Wyatt is nonverbal (lacks functional language) so unfortunately he is not offering up any names. However we are working on a few names with him to see if he can say them and his reaction to the name. His therapist are also working with him on names they are rallying for. We have an awesome team!!

Thanks for joining this journey with us! We are beyond the moon excited. Welcome to our family, Jake.