Four-Legged Employee
June 29, 2020
Families at Goodstart Early Learning Morwell Central are greeted everyday with “50 kilograms of love and fluff”.
Lilly, the three-year-old Bernese mountain dog works fulltime at the centre providing a range of services to children and staff.
Goodstart Early Learning Morwell Central director Nathan Brown said he went on a two-year waiting list before getting Lilly.
“They are not very well used in Australia because their life expectancy is not as high, they are quite expensive and the wait list for them is huge.”
Lilly undertook temperament training until she turned one and in October 2018 passed her formal training with Lead the Way Training Institute in Melbourne.
She worked alongside Mr Brown at another Goodstart centre in Traralgon before moving to Morwell when the Morwell Central site was completed in February of this year.
“Lilly’s job is really to go around and in essence to give love and be loved,” Mr Brown said.
“Dogs are very forgiving … if a child is escalating Lilly will sense that very quickly and just walk away, the children then want Lilly to come back to them and have to figure out what they need to do, it teaches them to self-regulate then Lilly will return.
“She supports children because she is very low skilled she isn’t able to draw, cut or build so it makes the children more comfortable trying those activities with no judgement.”
Mr Brown said Lilly also helped the children test their new ideas and the gentle giant worked at a lemonade stand the children designed earlier in the week.
“Having a therapy dog becomes such a core feature to what your centre is, we have families coming in earlier to engage with Lilly and she becomes that connection for them to the centre.”
Mr Brown said Lilly also supports the staff when they are feeling anxious or overwhelmed.
“A therapy dog hold the same certificate as the person who is handling her, she works therapeutically. Lilly is able to offer animal assisted education which is quite special,” he said.
“She is something really special.”
Most Recent News
Former Victoria man’s diabetic alert dog helps him get back to life
When Luke Hengen’s diabetes worsened in his early twenties, it stripped him of the outdoor activities where the country kid felt at home. Countless wilderness adventures and years of hard-fought football games took a toll on his body, to the point where he could no longer sense when his blood sugar was too high or […]
Students Get Therapy Dog
When middle school students return to class on Jan. 11, they’ll find a new face at the door: Daisy. Daisy is a therapy dog and the personal pet of Rob Kreger, principal of the Rock L. Butler Middle School. The five-year-old golden retriever is not a school pet or mascot, but rather a working dog […]
Therapy Dogtor
Last March, Caroline Benzel, a third-year medical student, began to notice the stress and discomfort her nurse friends were feeling from the pressures of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. “[Personal protective equipment] can be really rough on the skin,” Benzel, 31, tells PEOPLE. Benzel and her 3-year-old Rottweiler, Loki (who’s also a therapy dog) hatched a […]
Therapy Dog Pups
When Stanley the miniature fox terrier’s owner passed away, the little dog started a ‘paw-some’ new role – bringing puppy love to some of the Gold Coast’s oldest residents. After Carinity Cedarbrook Diversional Therapist Julianne Staff adopted Stanley, he began visiting the aged care community at Mudgeeraba as a therapy dog. Therapy dogs help to […]
Puppy Cams
A nonprofit is providing an unusual form of therapy for those on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic – puppy cams! “You spend five minutes with a puppy and try not to smile,” said registered nurse Robin Lingg Lagrone. Lingg Lagrone says watching little furballs wag their tails and prance on their paws helps […]
Pet Committee
When Moore County’s school doors were abruptly closed earlier in 2020, two- and four-legged volunteers from the Moore County Citizens’ Pet Responsibility Committee (PRC) were in their 12th year of presenting a six-session Pet Responsibility Education Program for fourth-graders. The PRC quickly shifted gears and placed its program materials online as part of a home […]