Therapy Dogs and School

[Ann W]

Last year Charlie was very lucky to talk his way into an elementary school. He worked with a select group of children who benefit from one on one reading with him. The resource teacher is wonderful to work with. We are back at the same school again this year and have 14 kids this year.
We worked very hard to promote the benefis of using a therapy dog in school. Every time an article gets posted on the benefit of having a dog in school I have taken it to school. Luckily for us they love dogs at our school . The principal is a dog person and strong supporter of the reading program.
Now I need your help. It seem that the time is right for the school to move forward and they have asked Charlie to work with a child that isn’t very fond of school. I was caught by surprise by this request. I would like your input. We meet this child today. I will say that they nervous. They don’t have a dog at home. I asked if they would be Charlie friend. We will go to school first thing on Mondays and spent some time with this child. I would appreciate any information or input from those that have worked with child that don’t like school or if you just have some suggestion. The guidance counselor is new and is more than willing for any input that I have. This child is in first grade.
I believe very strongly in the power of the doodle and believe they have the power to help.

[Ann W]

Thanks for the good ideas. We gave this child a trading card today with Charlies info. I hope we can motivate this child.

[20xlhzzaoccks]

I'm glad Charlie has had a chance to help children in the school setting. I'm a school based mental health counselor and have been using my dog doing canine assisted play therapy for the last year. This may be a little bit more from a counseling perspective but hopefully still useful. I really try to focus on coping skills and positive self-esteem with my kids. One way I do this is to teach the kids to "train" my dog and teach him new tricks. They are really empowered when they learn hand signals and say a command and Steve listens to them. I have had some of my kids demonstrate things they have taught Steve to their class and the kids seem to respond well to that. Since Charlie has experience reading with kids there are some books about dogs that address school issues or anxiety. A few I'm thinking of are, Marley goes to School and Boomer's Big Move. There's a cute one called, Help me Mister Mutt, Dogs with People Problems. Just some general things that might help him are his teacher giving him special jobs in the classroom and if he's in 2nd grade maybe he could help out in one of the KIndergarten classrooms once a week. I'm not sure if your guidance counselor runs groups or not, but I usually put kids with school aversion in a small group and they usually develop some bonds with other kids in group. Just a disclamor that I have had kids with school aversion in the past but it sometimes turns out to be pretty serious like depression, anxiety, or home issues underlying it. I would just watch out to make sure it isn't something more serious. I too am a strong believer in the the doodle and have seen amazing things since taking Steve to school.

[Ann W]

No this is great feed back. I will check on the books. I have suggested to the conselor that I would let him train Charlie. I have just started this with an group of boys and they love the idea of training him. We are teaching him hand signal that he already know. They don't know that of course. It was suggestioned that he have special jobs at home. None that I know about at school. If you don't mind I will let you know how it goes and ask for more input. I have a realtionship with this school as my daughters have gone there for 5 years. I have a hard time getting in with would Charlie. Thanks so much for the information.

[20xlhzzaoccks]

Sure, let me know how it goes and contact me anytime. I'll let you know if I think of anything else. I went to a really good training on canine assisted play therapy. The website is www.play-therapy.com She has a really good book that is available for purchase on the website. She does a lot of clicker training with her kids and I can see how kids would like this as well. They can learn to "load" the clicker and teach tricks pretty fast. I taught Steve to touch a wooden spoon pretty fast using clicker training.

[Ann W]

We do agility so Charlie knows all abouttouch.He is the proud owner of a couple of different buttons, "That is easy, I don't think so, and sweet" Thanks again

[Kyoko]

I put that website as my favorite!

[Kyoko]

I was thinking that if the truancy is the issue the child may be able to earn play time with Charlie when he/she comes to school so many days in a row or something....

[Julie B.]

Luah and I go to an elementary school once a week and we work with kids that have behavioral or adjustment issues. What we do is my sponsor teacher pairs these kids up with another more "popular" child in their class and they both get to come out to the playground and throw the ball for Luah, make her do her tricks and in general have fun. It seems to provide good self esteem for these kids because they go back to their class and talk about playing with Luah. We also visit 2 special ed classrooms during our day as well. Good luck, I find our doodles can be miracle workers! I'm going to check out that play therapy website because I have thought about having the kids teach Luah new tricks but wasn't sure what the best way to do this would be.

[Ann W]

I order a book last night off the website. I like the playground idea. Charlie would to. It seem this has a lot to do with getting to school. Once there it's ok. The child is reserved. I did see their eyes light up when they walked into the room.

[Julie B.]

Yea, the last time we were there one of the kids "with issues" was walking Luah back inside and I heard him say to the boy he had been paired up with "This is awesome, I can't believe we got to go outside and play with a dog!" That really said it all.

[Doris]

As a first grade teacher I can say this child MAY have separation issues. It would be great if you could be there when school starts to get the day started in a positive way. What could be better than being greeted by a doodle? Pretend "training" would be fantastic to boost self esteem. Please keep us posted! I'm interested to hear how things go!