March 27, 2020
Tinker, a professional Therapy Dog relaxes for a few minutes at Glenview Middle School
Glenview Middle School seventh-grader Evan Schillinger sat on a floor outside the counseling offices, gently petting Tinker, counselor Shannon Harmon’s large golden retriever.
“It really relieves my stress, kind of calms me knowing that she’s here,” Evan said.
“I just love dogs,” he added, noting that having Tinker at school gives him something to look forward to. Evan, along with many other students, gets to see Tinker about four days a week at Glenview.
“I can’t wait until we have therapy dogs in every one of our schools,” said Superintendent Kristin Humphries. An elementary and middle school district, District 37 now has a therapy dog in two of its six schools — Hillcrest Elementary School and Glenview Middle.
“It changes the tenor of a building,” Humphries said. “It really can help kids calm down in different ways. I just think animals, especially dogs, make people feel good.”
Tinker has been at Glenview since before Thanksgiving, and she typically attends school three or four times a week.
“We’ve seen some big positives with having Tinker at this school,” Harmon said, recalling a recent note from a teacher thanking her for having Tinker at the school.
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
