Therapy dog goes to school!
Hello and I hope you are having a good start to your week!
I’ve spoken before about my dog George. He’s a therapy dog and we volunteer at various places to help people feel better and we’ve even worked with people with dog phobias to assist them overcome their fears.
George is 12 years old now, so he’s basically semi-retired (a bit like myself!). Nowadays we only go to a small number of places each year. We used to volunteer at a dementia facility every weekend, he was the local university’s therapy dog and he has also visited high schools, primary (elementary) schools and childcare centres.
Every year we are invited to a local primary school’s Leadership Day and this year we were again part of the team of people chosen to speak with young people about what leadership means.
I prepped a PowerPoint presentation and put George into his therapy dog harness, collar & lead and we went into three classrooms to talk with the kids.
I also tied in the school’s values within the presentation to make it more meaningful to the children.
The children (and the teachers!) were thrilled to have George visit and after the presentation they all sat is a circle and gave him all the pets and cuddles!
It is just so beautiful to see the interaction between George and the children. He loves it as well, but he does tire more easily these days! (Again, a bit like me!😂)
Hug your dog and your children. Consider volunteering in your community if you have the time and capacity and if you do, I hope you have as much fun as we do!
Love and hugs to you all ❤️
