Because of a tragedy….I envisioned a dream- a dream to help others heal through the love of a therapy dog. Just over 5 yrs ago a classmate/friend of my daughter’s died in a single car accident. She was just 17 years old and a senior in high school. The very next day, a high school student committed suicide. Our small community was shaken. The high school brought in comfort dogsto assist the staff and students through the tragedy and grieving process. I, as a junior high school counselor and LCPC, was asked to assist. I watched firsthand the comfort and love these dogs brought to this situation. From that moment on, I knew I wanted to pursue utilizing a therapy dog to bring comfort and healing to those in need….however, personally the timing wasn’t right (I am a single parent of 3 girls and needed to focus my time/attention on my family). My girls are older now- 22 (living on her own), 18 (senior in hs), and 16 (junior in hs). The time is right for me to pursue this endeavor and bring animal assisted therapy and comfort to those in need at the junior high school and in our community through the love of a therapy dog….and Paws Giving Independence is helping me reach this dream.
Paws Giving Independence (PGI) is a non-profit organization that trains service dogs to assist people with a variety of different disabilities while providing support to encourage independence. PGI also trains facility therapy dogs. Mason is a 2 year old Golden Retriever that has been trained by PGI. I am a school social worker/counselor and based on my application and school needs, PGI thought Mason would be a good match for myself and our school. After much support in teaching me how to work with Mason, we received a homepass and Mason was able to come to school on a trial basis as a facility therapy dog. Let me tell you…..Mason has done some amazing things at our jr high school in the week and a half he has been coming. From the moment our students come off the bus in the morning, Mason brings smiles to their faces. So many students are so excited to see Mason- they come over to greet him and give him some good morning love- this too, gives me the opportunity to check in with many (ask about their weekend, morning, basketball game the night before- build deeper relationships with our students)….and it starts their school day smiling!! Because I am a school social worker/counselor, I am seeing students for individual counseling and group counseling. In individual counseling, Mason is there to break walls down in establishing the therapeutic relationship in less time, he allows students who are upset to cry while he provides comfort. We are seeing more and more trauma and hurt in students at school. Mason loves them unconditionally and without judgment. I had a student last week sobbing to Mason while talking to me about her home situation, which is not good. He laid with her and comforted her while she cried. During passing times in the hallways, Mason and I are present. We are there for students to say hi and Mason generally has a tail-wag greeting for each of them. I also teach social skills in our functional classroom. In the week and a half Mason has been with us, I have taught 2 lessons- one on service dogs and one on therapy dogs. I brought Mason in the classroom the last 10 minutes of class for them to practice some of the skills taught including looking at the patch to determine if the dog is a service dog or a therapy dog, and if a therapy dog how to go about asking to pet him. After practicing, the students were able to pet Mason. He loved it as much as they did. He also showed love to a student in a wheelchair by putting his head on her lap and allowing her to pet him. The joy on her face was priceless. In the short time Mason has been attending school, he has changed the culture. He has brought joy to students and staff alike. While at school I am witnessing more smiling, laughing, tail-wagging, stories, cards, and pure joy from within….all because of an organization that has poured love, training, time, and dedication into our favorite therapy dog, Mason.
