Progress. Yes?

Can you spot the child?

Burke watching his boy intently.

It's the fall foliage version of "Where's Jacob?" Complete with new LL Bean fleece sweatshirt in Sail Orange, which he is actually (sort of?) keeping on his body. He seems to like hoods, wearing them up, cocooning himself a bit. This sweatshirt is super soft and lined in a very plush fur fleece. My thought process: he needs a fall jacket; this will be a great color because I'll be able to see where he is against our vast backdrop of beauty in a flash. One flaw in my thinking: there are a lot of orange leaves out there that are not unlike Sail Orange in their hue. Still, it's an improvement over his regular t-shirts, which tend toward browns and greens, with only the occasional red. And, it's bear season. Should he actually wander again, it would be good for him to be wearing orange.

We've been doing work with Burke and Jake in public, and I've spent countless hours researching service dog vests and harnesses for Burke to wear. I've read, read, talked to parents, and read some more, and made peace with tethering Jake to Burke for now - using a hands-free leash system. In fact, I think that getting an over-the-shoulder leash for me as well also makes sense. Both boy and dog did spectacularly well at the bookstore, pet store, and department store yesterday. We were all exhausted afterward, though.

So within a couple of weeks we'll have a snazzy new vest with detachable backpacks so Burke can begin to carry Jake's enzyme capsules and supplies as well as juice for him, when needed. And we'll have a new, more Jake-proof tethering system, and hopefully a leather leash for me to wear that will leave my hands free (helpful in checkout!). I've dug out my Teamwork books and DVDs and begun refreshing basic obedience with Burke. Luckily he is showing me he can totally sit, lay down, and stay - today just he and I went into the pharmacy and I did a little off-leash stay in a quiet aisle. He was fabulous. I need to get a long lead for recall off-leash outdoors, and need to practice commands out in our yard, because he seems to think no training applies if he's outside and off-leash.

I'm going with the "short and often" theory for training sessions, and trying to remember that "slow is fast" as my Teamwork book tells me. Little chunks at a time, and we'll get there. Burke's biggest issues are that he wants to greet everyone he meets, and he can't sit and get petted nicely - he gets all excited. Not terrible, just a little boisterous. Children are especially tough. And other dogs - a young lab puppy came into the pet store and I just was not prepared for Burke's reaction. The other dog was manically trying to get to Burke, and he was so excited he started barking. So we have work to do. We also need to refine his heel, but he's great at it in stores. On our road on walks, not so much. He pulls or forges ahead even with the headcollar.

I'm reading Gregor the Overlander to Jake right now, a chapter or two a night. He seems to enjoy it. School is a bright spot, it seems - from the notes I'm getting, anyway. He's doing lots of good work there. He's making strides, and I just want to capitalize on it however I can. He loves walking with Burke and holding the second leash, which is really wonderful.

I have a few goals I'm working on with Jake, basically. Besides the obvious, keeping him from wandering, which in itself is a full-time task and then some:

• Leave enough time for him to dress himself as much as he can in the mornings.
• Work with Burke and Jake in public.
• Encourage boy and dog to bond.
• Keep up with his nebulizer treatments and airway clearance for CF, building up the amount of airway clearance rounds we're doing (per his doc).
• Read him a chapter or two of a middle grade novel each night.
• When his room is done (we're extending our loft and his room will be a good bit bigger as will K's), set it up with a few high-preference toys, a sky chair, his mini tramp, and his beanbag chair.
• After that, introduce the idea of sleeping in his own bed, maybe working on transitioning into it during the Christmas break when we can all sleep in if this is an exhausting process.

I think these are pretty good goals for the rest of this year. If we can manage them, I'll feel like we're making some real progress. Even if half of them actually happen, it will be a step forward.