We're more than just pets.

Introducing Bolt & Stan, combating the world together!

Hey! It's me, Zeek. This is my buddy Bolt. In many ways Bolt is just your ordinary Labrador, he loves to play and sniff and go on walks in the woods. But Bolt also has a very important job. He is the best friend of a little boy called Stan. Stan has developmental delay. He struggles with social situations, making friends, dealing with his emotions and some academic aspects. In school Stan has a one to one to help him deal with all of these things. He has a constant routine in school life and that is settling for Stan. But what about home life?

That's where my buddy Bolt comes in. He is a constant in the world when everything else is all mish mash, his one to one in life. Bolt helped Stan literally immediately. When Stan went to get Bolt it was the first time he spoke to anyone outside of the home when he asked "where is my dog?". Introducing his new friend to people helped his confidence grow even more and developed his social skills. His confidence has grown ever since then. 

Bolt also comes in when Stan needs help emotionally. No matter what Bolt is there, ready to listen to him read or become one of the worlds best superheroes! And that's exactly what he is. When Stan if feeling sad or frustrated he can sit and talk to Bolt when he doesn't feel like talking to hoomans. He writes notes to his buddy Bolt to express his emotions and most of the time finds it easier to empathise with Bolt, teaching to understand how others are feeling. Bolt is the one constant friend that will not push him to do anything that he doesn't want to do. Bolt won't judge him or ask him a load of confusing questions. Bolt always understands how he is feeling helping Stan deal with situations he is not comfortable with. Stan is interested in very particular things and what do you know! Bolt loves exactly the same things as Stan! Bolt was Stan's first friend and helped him along the road to making other friendships and so much more. Having Bolt as a friend makes for a much happier and content little boy. 


Here are some videos of them having fun together! 
http://youtu.be/g3pOijfeLrQ
http://youtu.be/quDjPkGSqp4

If you're interested in bringing a canine friend into your family to help someone just like Stan then here is some links for more information. 

Service Dogs Europe 

Autism services for children - Dogs for the Disabled

Autism Support Dogs

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Thanks for reading. Bye for now.