Two weeks have passed since Hailey and Jay have started with Casper's training. After their rocky start, they settled on a schedule of every other day. Hailey and Jay decided that this would be often enough that Casper would still have thorough training and still allow him to be a puppy. Hailey also thought this would be a good schedule to give Jay a break mentally between training days, though Jay doesn't realize that Hailey put his mental health into consideration.
So far Will's schedule has not matched with Casper's training schedule, meaning it has only been the two partners working with the yellow lab. Casper, being the smart pup that he is, has caught on fairly fast with the first step that he is being taught.
"Hey, Jay," Hailey calls as they are getting ready to start their next training session with Casper, "I think he will be ready for the next step soon."
"Really?"
"Yeah, I think we can start on that as soon as he's on top of you by command without a treat."
"What is the next step for him anyway?" Jay asks, not remembering from the first time that they talked about it.
"Right now we want him to climb up on you while you are sitting. The next part is, instead of you sitting, you will be laying down and Casper will be putting pressure on you," Hailey explains patiently, realizing that Jay probably blocked most of that night out.
"Do you think this will actually work?" Jay asks.
Before Hailey can answer him there is a knock at the door. Jay looks to Hailey, silently questioning if she knows who it is. Before either one can say anything there is another knock along with a familiar voice on the other side of the door, "Jay open up, I know you're home. It's me."
Going over to open the door Jay asks, "What are you doing? You have a key."
"I didn't want to get shot," Will deadpans.
"I wouldn't have shot you," Jay argues.
"You wouldn't shoot if you heard your door open and you didn't know who it was?" Will continues.
"Only if I didn't recognize who it was?" Jay answers. "What are you doing here?" Jay asks.
"Isn't today one of Casper's training days?"
"Yes, but…"
"No 'buts'," Will orders. "I told you I want to be a part of this."
"I just thought that-"
"I will tell you as much as you need to hear it. Understand?" Jay nods unconvincingly before Will continues, "So are you going to show me how this is done?"
"Of course," Hailey answers before Jay can overthink anything. "Jay go sit down." Jay goes over to the couch with Casper following him. Looking back over to the older Halstead brother, Hailey informs him, "So we're almost done with this phase, but the next one is pretty similar," she says as she grabs more of the training treats off the counter. "With this phase, we are getting Casper to lay on top of Jay while he is sitting down."
"So how are we doing that?" Will asks.
"Like this," Hailey answers as she calls the pup to her side. "Casper get on your dad. Get on Jay," she orders as she shows him the treat. Casper quickly jumps on the couch to get to Jay, laying across his lap. Both Jay and Hailey praise Casper for doing what he was told. He also got his training g treat from Hailey.
"Okay. I think I got it. How did you get him to do that when you first started?"
"I would guide him with the treat," Hailey answers. "Held it over Jay until Casper was on top of him," Hailey explains further when Will looks confused. "Do you want to try?" Hailey asks.
"Yeah. Do I need to call the dog over?" Will asks not sure how to get Casper away from Jay.
"Yeah, just call him and tell him to stay until you're ready," Hailey answer, wanting to let Will do this on his own so Jay can see that Will is serious about being a part of Casper's training.
Will nods in understanding before calling for the dog, "Casper, come here boy." Casper jumps down and walks over to Will. "Now stay."
"Will, you need the training treat," Hailey tells him as she hands Will the small treat.
"Thanks, Hailey," Will thanks when he realized that he didn't have the treat. "Casper get on Jay. Get on your dad," he orders, showing Casper the treat. Casper goes over to Jay before jumping up and laying across his lap once again. "Good boy," Will praises.
Looking over to Hailey, Will asks, "Do you want to…" trailing off, not knowing how to word his question.
"No, you go ahead. I've been doing this with Casper since he started, he's used to me. I want him to get used to you working with him," Hailey tells him hoping he doesn't take it the wrong way.
Will calls over the dog and starts over.
Hailey lets Will and Jay work with Casper for about an hour and a half before she stops them, "Let's take a break. Since Jay has nothing to cook, how does Chinese sound?"
Both brothers look at each other before looking back to Hailey agreeing with her.
"Your usual, Jay?" she asks. Receiving a nod she turns to Will, "What about you?" Will give her his order. "Fifteen minutes," she tells the brothers when she hangs up a few minutes later.
Looking over to the brothers she sees Jay is in the same spot with Casper still sitting on him, Will now sitting next to his brother.
"Will what did you think of Casper's training?" Hailey asks.
"I thought it was interesting," he tells Hailey before turning to Jay, making sure he understands that he means what he says, "I'm glad that you're letting me be a part of this," he tells Jay putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Hailey, which task are we doing next?" Jay asks.
"What do you think would be more beneficial for you? Grounding during flashbacks or intervention with sensory overload?" Hailey asks.
"I don't know?"
"Okay, Jay," Will intervenes before Jay has a panic attack. "I think that for you the two will intermix. So why don't we wait until Casper is ready for the next task and see how similar the training is."
"Okay." Before anyone can say anything else, the buzzard ring letting them know their food is there.
Hailey gets up to get their food. Bringing the food into the kitchen, Hailey takes it out of the bag letting the brothers claim theirs. They eat their food, catching up with each other from the past two weeks; Hailey and Will being careful not to let it slip that they talk about Jay.
After eating dinner and hanging out with his brother and his brother's partner for a while, Will excuses himself, claiming he has an early shift the next morning.
"I should get going too," Hailey tells Jay. "Let you and Casper have some time together. I know you feel bad about leaving him in the cage so much."
"You don't have to," Jay tells her.
"Jay, it's fine. Really. Plus I told Vanessa we could have a movie night."
"Okay, have fun with that," Jay laughs while walking his brother and partner to the door.
"What do you think of Casper and Jay's training?" Hailey asks once they are in the elevator, out of Jay's ear-shot.
"Well, I think they have the bonding down," Will comments.
"Yeah, that didn't take long."
"But seriously, I think this will work. Even if Casper doesn't become a service dog, he's already helped Jay so much. He's the Jay before the war… I didn't think I would ever get to see that side of my brother again. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love my brother even if he has a lot of baggage, but I hate seeing him hurt."
"No, I get what you mean. I mean, I didn't know Jay before the war, I met him after Lindsay and when his PTSD came back with a vengeance… but seeing this version of Jay- the Jay that doesn't have the weight of the world on his shoulders…" she trails off, not know what to say.
"You know, when we were at that first responder's picnic a couple of weeks ago, Ethan made a comment about how it seems like they saved each other. And seeing them together tonight I think it's true."
"Yeah," Hailey sighs as they reach their cars. "Thanks for making sure Jay knows you're there."
"He's my brother. Of course, I am. I abandoned him once, I'm not going to again"
"I know… I just know that Jay has a hard time believing that. I don't think that the way Lindsay and Antonio left helped him in that department."
"Yeah, I just hope that he can trust me one day."
"He does. If he didn't, you wouldn't be helping with Casper's training. I think he's just afraid to show it."
"Thanks, Hailey- for being there for Jay."
"Of course. He's my partner."