Elizabeth is a teacher at Pinehaven Primary School who is pioneering a dog therapy programme. She uses her dog Teddy, a delightful spoodle. She had noticed at puppy training that Teddy was particularly good with young children and started to take him to her classes. Teddy has had special training and wears a fluoro-jacket so students know he is a working dog and not just any old pooch.
Teddy is particularly good with children with special needs, or just having a bad day, and is good at comforting them. Indeed he seems to know which children need him. At first Elizabeth simply had Teddy in her classroom where he might sit with a child, or even have a child read to him. But she noticed amazing feedback - many students who were reluctant attenders now wanted to come to school, or at least her class. She had questions like, "Please Ms. McKee I'm having a hard time - can I have Teddy for a bit?"
Often Elizabeth would use Teddy more actively, asking a student to train him to do a simple trick (and showing the student how to train a dog). This was particularly successful with neuro diverse or ADHD (over-active) students who would develop empathy and patience.
Elizabeth has progressed to having a relieving teacher take her class while she and Teddy work with individuals or small groups in special sessions. Her Principal says, "Teddy has become part of our staff and together he and Elizabeth have transformed the learning experiences of the students in the programme."
Now Elizabeth wants to develop and expand the programme. She would like to spend more time on it herself, and hopefully train other teachers to do the same. Although the school currently receives some support from the Ministry, it is not enough, and she needs more money to expand the programme. She outlined the costs involved for relieving-teacher time, and training and feeding a dog, estimated between $25-$30,000 a year.
It was NOT just a "bring-a-pet-a-day" scheme, bringing along their pets to school, like rabbits - this is different as it needs to involve trained teachers and specially trained dogs. Click HERE to view some lovely photos....
