Proud post!!

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palo1

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I took Red Irish Terrier to work with me today. I knew I would be seeing a couple of students that would love and benefit from the presence of a dog though I wasn't sure if my Red dog was THE dog they would benefit from - mainly cos of his somewhat livewire nature...

Anyhoo, he enjoyed a go on my spinning office chair, he woofed rather quietly and shamefacedly at folks wandering down the corridor and threatened to pee on the large office plant BUT he was wonderful with the students that came in to see me. I had a plan B if he was too distracting but he was genuinely fabulous and read each student really well. The first one is highly distractible; Red sat right next to him but perfectly quietly and enjoyed the near constant head stroking and gentle ear pulling. Student was visibly more relaxed having something to do with his hands and the slightly more informal vibe that a scruffy terrier brought to proceedings! I usually have some things for distractible students to handle but a dog is a different kind of thing! The next student brought his guide wolf (I was expecting them) and I was SOOOOO proud that Red demonstrated his excellent 'meeting other dogs' skills. In fact he was far more excited to talk to that student rather than his dog - who is the most wonderful GSD/Retriever and genuinely looks like a wolf rather than dog. Red then lay down whilst I was talking to that student - not a peep out of him and not remotely distracting that student. Final student was very anxious and rather upset - Red went straight to him and put his paw on the student's knee. It was really sweet to see. Red kept engaging with that student and even asked to play which was interesting - not entirely sure what was going on there but it made that student laugh (he has dogs at home) and really appreciated Red's lightheartedness as he submitted a piece of work he has been really worried about and struggled massively with.

All of the students were given the option btw to have tutorials with the dog or without; of course they all chose dog enhanced mentoring lol!! Red really was a very good boy - if I asked him to settle down he did so really easily; straight under my desk so not causing any hazards or visible distraction. He rather enjoyed it and I was delighted to see that his temperament in a very unusual situation was actually very level and had considerable self discipline. I am VERY proud of him. :) :)
 
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palo1 said:
I took Red Irish Terrier to work with me today. I knew I would be seeing a couple of students that would love and benefit from the presence of a dog though I wasn't sure if my Red dog was THE dog they would benefit from - mainly cos of his somewhat livewire nature...

Anyhoo, he enjoyed a go on my spinning office chair, he woofed rather quietly and shamefacedly at folks wandering down the corridor and threatened to pee on the large office plant BUT he was wonderful with the students that came in to see me. I had a plan B if he was too distracting but he was genuinely fabulous and read each student really well. The first one is highly distractible; Red sat right next to him but perfectly quietly and enjoyed the near constant head stroking and gentle ear pulling. Student was visibly more relaxed having something to do with his hands and the slightly more informal vibe that a scruffy terrier brought to proceedings! I usually have some things for distractible students to handle but a dog is a different kind of thing! The next student brought his guide wolf (I was expecting them) and I was SOOOOO proud that Red demonstrated his excellent 'meeting other dogs' skills. In fact he was far more excited to talk to that student rather than his dog - who is the most wonderful GSD/Retriever and genuinely looks like a wolf rather than dog. Red then lay down whilst I was talking to that student - not a peep out of him and not remotely distracting that student. Final student was very anxious and rather upset - Red went straight to him and put his paw on the student's knee. It was really sweet to see. Red kept engaging with that student and even asked to play which was interesting - not entirely sure what was going on there but it made that student laugh (he has dogs at home) and really appreciated Red's lightheartedness as he submitted a piece of work he has been really worried about and struggled massively with.

All of the students were given the option btw to have tutorials with the dog or without; of course they all chose dog enhanced mentoring lol!! Red really was a very good boy - if I asked him to settle down he did so really easily; straight under my desk so not causing any hazards or visible distraction. He rather enjoyed it and I was delighted to see that his temperament in a very unusual situation was actually very level and had considerable self discipline. I am VERY proud of him. :):)
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Oh my god, I want dog enhanced mentoring ??? no wonder you're proud, what a good boy.
 
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Cowrie said:
Oh my god, I want dog enhanced mentoring ??? no wonder you're proud, what a good boy.
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I wish it could be more of a 'real' option tbh @Cowrie . I have a number of students who have expressed that they would like the chance of 'dog enhanced mentoring' though my HE institution is a bit risk averse generally. They see dogs as 'risky' (even our 'proper' guide dogs lol). I had a dog that was PAT trained years ago and I really think Red would be a great candidate for that too but not sure if even that would convince work that it could be a regular thing. I would also hate to impose on my students so at the moment it is a 'treat' - very much for me actually and today I just would not have made it to work without the dog so I think that is sufficient justification on this occasion. I felt so much less stressed having the dog with me and he is also a natural comedian so it kept things jolly lol!!
 
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Very well done, both. I hope the ?Board of Governors can be encouraged to see Red for the great asset that he obviously is.
For many years, I worked as a Local Authority children's social worker. I had a collie x? who was a wonderful asset in working with children who had been abused. They would have "third party" conversations with Dog Dog - named by a child with speech and language difficulties - I would ask Dog Dog what activities x child would enjoy today and x child would tell D-D. Eventually, x would feel safe enough to talk to me directly, at least some of the time.
Dog Dog lived until she was 14. Arthritis got her in the end. The young people I was still in touch with insisted that we held a wake in her memory. It was a sad and joyful celebration.
 
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Ratface said:
Very well done, both. I hope the ?Board of Governors can be encouraged to see Red for the great asset that he obviously is.
For many years, I worked as a Local Authority children's social worker. I had a collie x? who was a wonderful asset in working with children who had been abused. They would have "third party" conversations with Dog Dog - named by a child with speech and language difficulties - I would ask Dog Dog what activities x child would enjoy today and x child would tell D-D. Eventually, x would feel safe enough to talk to me directly, at least some of the time.
Dog Dog lived until she was 14. Arthritis got her in the end. The young people I was still in touch with insisted that we held a wake in her memory. It was a sad and joyful celebration.
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Aw, that is lovely. I bet Dog Dog made a huge difference to those children and it is so well documented how dogs can provide great support just by their presence. Even when we have had guide dogs our H&S team are slightly panicked; they are concerned, not unreasonably about allergies, phobias, dog hair, widdling in the wrong places, getting near food etc etc though I have told them (as our Disability Officer) that Guide Dogs are really NOT going to be a problem. I did do a risk assessment for this morning though I didn't go totally official in every way; it was just to cover me really but there absolutely should be a way that dogs can be on hand for people when that would help them I reckon. My boss really wouldn't understand if I had told her that I could not have gone in to work this morning without my scruffy little friend which is a bit sad. Thankfully I just took him in, did my job, no disasters happened and I earnt my keep!!
 
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That sounds fantastic, no wonder you were so proud of him!
When I was little one of the doctors at our practice used to bring his Labrador in with him, it would spend most of its time sleeping under the examination table thingy but was always an excellent distraction for anything painful, he just seemed to know when he was needed and his big head would be forcing itself under your hand. I suppose it wouldn't be allowed now though.
 
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palo1

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Rokele55 said:
We were recently congratulated by ofsted on the positive effect of dogs in the classroom with our students. My late (dreadfully missed) terrier was a very valued staff member.
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That is wonderful - I hope more and more schools and places of work get the message tbh but it's hard for people who are unsure or afraid of dogs. Two of my dogs now have been useful in education; my late, very much missed greyhound was the world's cheapest life model for Life Drawing classes for years and was much loved by staff and students alike. Red Irish Terrier will probably only have occasional trips but great all the same. He is very tired this evening bless him; he missed his long morning nap and clearly 'Doing Work is rather exhausting...
 
Christmascinnamoncookie

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He sounds like he did really well, what a good boy!

My last school had a school dog. If a student was upset, he was there for strokes and games. He belonged to the receptionist and lay on the front desk for strokes.

My cousin also has a school fog who accompanies staff on 'walks' round their mile track. The walk re staff meetings!

I can definitely see the benefits of a school dog. A colleague with whom I have not got on sat on the floor to play with mine when I sneaked them in for cuddles at lunchtime. I am more inclined to speak to him now.
 
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