It is not unusual for students to have friends in the classroom.
It is a bit unusual, though, when that friend has a tail, a collar, four legs, and a big bowl of water nearby to lap up.
More and more, schoolteachers are harnessing a canine’s loving, even-tempered energy to teach kids gentleness and cooperation, and to soothe nerves.
Morgan, a goldendoodle, gravitates toward kids who are loners, and frequently goes to the stressed-out students, putting his head in their laps.
“Dogs are naturally social, and they seek community just like humans do,” Kate Perry, a Manhattan dog trainer and author of “Training for Both Ends of the Leash: A Guide to Cooperation Training for You and Your Dog” told LifeZette.
“Dogs are wonderful additions to the classroom. They are the No. 1 species that we have consistently invited into our homes, and our lives.”
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Morgan, a goldendoodle, pulls duty in Palmyra High School in Palmyra, New York. She gravitates toward kids who are loners, and frequently goes to the stressed-out students, resting his head on their laps.
“He’s quite a dog, he really is,” Morgan’s owner, Jim Blankenberg, told Educationworld.com. “He has the ability to sense stress.”
“It is important to choose the right dog for the classroom,” Perry said. “(You want) one who was bred for temperament and not aesthetics, and one who has had the training and exposure to handle the classroom atmosphere. Also, having a trainer and handler with the dog is very important.”
She added, “A child who can show the other kids how to approach a dog is really nice, if you can manage it.”
Perry often brings her son to classrooms to show other kids how to treat a four-legged friend.
In a study titled “Who Let the Dog In” published in Teaching Exceptional Children PLUS, researcher Katherine L. Anderson studied the effects of a dog named J.D. on students in a special-needs classroom, and recorded reactions.
“He makes school so much better, and I like going because J.D. is there,” said one student.
“She is excited to come to school, where before, she was kind of crabby to come to school,” a parent of another student said. “I don’t really get that crabbiness anymore. She’s been excited to get up and go. I think (J.D.) has made a difference.”
Students also turned to J.D. to prevent emotional crises.
“When I’m about to have a bad day, I just pet and hold J.D. to calm down,” one student said. Another reported, “He comes up to me. He doesn’t want me to get mad, so he helps me with my problems.” “It makes me forget about being angry,” a third special-needs student said.
The study concluded that development of student-dog relationships has the greatest potential for helping students with their emotions and behaviors.
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Dogs have long been known to make excellent therapy partners, and are used in nursing homes and assisted-living facilities, drawing elderly residents out of their shells to enjoy the pleasure of stroking a dog’s fur, or hugging his neck. Classrooms are similar. Many students need a bit of emotional support — and a bit of a snuggle, during school hours.
“The tactile benefits of stroking soft fur are immense,” Perry said. “Kids want to connect to that, and to a dog’s energy. And dogs are natural bonders.”
In an experiment shared by Columbia University’s EdLab, 80 Swiss schoolchildren were observed to determine stress level reduction after exposure to dogs. Three groups of kids were asked to give a presentation. One group gave a presentation with the presence of a real dog they knew well. The second group was able to bring a friend, and a third group was allowed to bring a stuffed animal.
The tactile benefits of stroking soft fur are immense.
The findings showed that the children who had been partnered with a dog had the least amount of stress before and after the presentation. The longer a child stroked the dog before to their presentation, the less stress — measured in saliva samples — they experienced.
The children also became more careful physically when the dog was in the classroom as not to step on him. They were also more careful with each other, according to a teacher.
The study also revealed that when children who were blindfolded were asked to stroke a dog, theirs brain released oxytocin, a stress-relieving hormone.
Said the teacher of the classroom dog, “Tabo doesn’t judge them, doesn’t hold a grudge. For one moment, he lets them feel like they’re the best.”
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