!!Volume Warning!! I have not posted in a while but wanted to give an update! Ranger went to Wawa after a really long day and it was such a stressful environment so I wanted to share what I noticed! They were cleaning the floors at Wawa, and it was insanely loud there and I wanted to say how proud of him I am. Here is what I noticed… I did have him in a corner but that was the current safest position for him as there were other variables I wanted to be cautious about. The cleaner was extremely close to Ranger and though him and I made eye contact about how close he was, he did apologize after. Ranger was looking around with his head down so he was obviously overwhelmed but I wanted to see what his limit was, while being careful. I did tons of verbal praise after he rejected physical touch which you can see! I never touched him after as I clearly saw what his boundaries were. He yawned, which let me know he was stressed and that yawn was a way of releasing some of that stress. He did stand when it got close to him and told him to ‘sit’ which I understand can be not the ‘right’ move but that loud floor cleaner was extremely close and I did not want an accident to happen. I did repeat it and let him think about it and he eventually sat. As someone did walk by, he knew not to smell them but did and I told him to ‘leave it’ which he did after me asking twice. But this was such an action packed video so there is lots to take away from this. In honesty, SO PROUD. I was even getting antsy being there and Ranger definitely noticed. If yall have any takeaways I would love to hear them!

Here is the video of Ranger during New Years fireworks! I even attached a really cute photo of Ranger and Plato (my cat) doing their daily staring contest!

Sorry for not posting recently but I put together a video of Ranger at a basketball game and this was his first time and though he had a moment, he was able to correct with tons of verbal praise and a couple treats here and there!! I put them in order so it made sense and I did take out a lot of me praising because it was so loud in the video… However the last video I added, I would love advice on what happened. Around the end of the game, Ranger went to a really great friend of mine and literally put his front feet and whole front body on her lap and completely rested on her and wouldn’t leave her side. Eventually another friend lifted him up so he was spread across 2 girls and more comfortable. Not kidding, he was there for about 5-10 minutes get tons of head pats and loving. I did put him into ‘free boy’ after a minute to see if he was getting distracted and wanted love, but just continued to stay there until he felt okay and gently got off their laps and came back to me and laid on the floor. Overall, I would count this a win since he listened, acted immediately, did tasks during loud moments, and had a great smile and attitude throughout! (He is also getting a new vest I promise!)

I forgot to post this but Ranger did AMAZING on our airport trip on the 30th and he did try to get up on the landing but honestly, I felt the immense pressure on that landing and I knew he was uncomfortable but he went right back down!!! He did also fix himself when we passed another service animal and looked back at them but looked ahead before I realized and said “leave it”, I love how perfect he was.. Enjoy our video!! I absolutely love Ranger and this made me so incredibly proud of him! Again, THANK YOU Amanda for your help leading up to this trip!!

I’ve been working with Ranger about noticing real cardiac problems in public with having him act before I notice rather than me telling him. To practice, we have been working on me sitting and my legs starting to bounce. Tonight, I was extremely stressed out by how loud it was in the restaurant. I hadn’t even noticed that my leg had started bouncing and when I noticed, Rangers head was laying there and OMG I TRIED SO HARD NOT TO DISTRACT HIM BUT I HAD TO PET HIS HEAD!! I COULDN'T WAIT, HE WAS SO CUTE!!! He had acted perfectly and I’m so surprised by how much knowledge was sticking to him so I’m glad all this progress was going smoothly!!