Skye begins to show Retriever instincts

As Skye is growing older, she is beginning to act more and more like a Retriever, in many different ways. For example, she likes carrying things around in her mouth - especially her toys and of course her tennis ball! This is natural behaviour for her breed and also for Labradors and Golden Retrievers. She likes to play fetch, in fact she'd play it all day long! Most Retrievers enjoy this game, and like I say Skye's no exception! She is starting to get the whole concept of the game: you give me back the toy, then I'll

throw it for you again, which can take puppies a while to understand! Another trait, common in the Retriever puppies, is their strong desire to chew. Skye will chew (or eat!) anything we leave around, therefore we have to make sure only safe things are within her reach, and for this reason we use stairgates around the house to fence off unsuitable rooms. One of the rules AADI have is that pups aren't allowed on furniture, so for this reason Skye rarely goes in the sitting room unless we are watching her. Skye is AADI's first ever flat coated Retriever, they train other Retriever breeds with success though! I know of many Flat Coats who have made it as fully trained Dogs for the Disabled in the UK but never as an Autism Assistance Dog that I have heard of so Skye is special! Retrievers, (including Flatties), in general, tend to be great family dogs, fantastic and extremely tolerant with children and very intelligent and trainable. All of these traits are positive for assistance dogs.