Since her recent surgery, Coco is operating on a semi-reduced work schedule, with her therapy-dog-in-training sister, Sophie, picking up one to two days during the school week. Coco and Sophie have different personalities, and are several years apart in age, but both are equally embraced by the students at Melican Middle School. Here’s what Coco has to tell us this week…
I went to school with Mom Monday and Friday this week, and Sophie went Tuesday and Wednesday. As usual, we kept students and staff calm, and we brought a lot of smiles to people’s faces.
Like we always do, we met with students one-on-one with Mom, we took walks with students, and we spent lots of time in the behavior specialist’s room with the students there. Some of them have anxiety and/or depression, some of them need a quiet place to complete work, and some of them need breaks throughout the day to stay on track. Whatever they need, we seem to be able to help with it.
One student came to the office to talk to Mom and the guidance counselor about someone being mean to her. She is an anxious student, but she LOVES dogs. She petted me while she talked to Mom and the guidance counselor, and I could feel her calm down and relax.
Another student had some type of outside evaluation because he has been so sad lately. He has had some difficulties in his young life, and he does remarkably well considering all he has been through. One thing that has been really upsetting to him is having to give up his dog in his parents’ recent divorce. He spent almost an hour with me on Friday, talking to Mom while he waited for his mother to finish talking with the principal. He spends time with Sophie and me throughout each week, but this day seemed different to me. He mentioned how much he enjoys spending time with the dogs. Later, I saw him as he was leaving the building, and he petted me again and thanked me for helping him.
Mom says Sophie did great on Tuesday and Wednesday. Students enjoy her energy, I think, which is different from mine. Mom says she could tell Sophie did not feel great halfway through the day Wednesday. Even so, she met with students one-on-one in Mom’s office and spent lots of time in the behavior specialist’ s office. Mom took Sophie outside for a break around lunchtime, and a student joined them. The student can be somewhat irritating to Sophie and to me, being overly exuberant with us, getting in our faces, and playing rough with us. Mom has been working with him on these unacceptable behaviors, but he still has lots of room for improvement. We are both very tolerant of him, but Mom says she knew Sophie was not herself on Wednesday, and she was not sure how she would do with him. As Sophie was trying to go to the bathroom, the student grabbed her face. She pulled her head away firmly. Mom told him not to do that – she could tell Sophie was experiencing some physical discomfort and was not feeling “right” – but he did it again. Mom decided Sophie had had enough for the day. Sophie napped in the car for a couple of hours before leaving for the day.
The next day, Dad took Sophie to the vet, and she had a medical issue – Mom knew she was not herself the day before, and she knew to get her out of a situation that might have caused her added stress or anxiety. Sophie is doing better now, and Mom plans to take her to school Wednesday again. She will meet with that “irritating” boy because Mom believes he needs to learn to be respectful of dogs and of handlers’ directives. Mom will keep close tabs on his interactions with Sophie, and she will correct the student when she needs to and cut the visit short if necessary.
One student wanted me to come to the end of her lunch group Friday because it was her birthday. After the students in the lunch group finished eating, the guidance counselor brought me to the group, and all the girls petted me, hugged me, and talked to me and each other. The student said she was happy for the birthday present.
Mom and I hear so many interesting comments from the students. Here are a few from the past week:
I feel so lucky to have therapy dogs in school. I feel sorry for my sisters, who graduated here before the dogs came.
The dogs are so calming. I like visiting with them.
Sometimes it is just nice to take a break and get some fresh air and walk a dog.
I love how dogs seem to know if you are sad or upset, and they help you. They seem to be able to read facial expressions, and they also have their own emotions.
Yes, we do have emotions. I thoroughly enjoy my time at Mom’s school – it makes me happy. There are times, however, when, like Sophie did on Wednesday, I get annoyed because I am tired. Wednesday with Sophie was a good reminder for Mom to make sure she gives us enough breaks, where we can sleep and re-charge with few distractions. ~Coco