Man's Best Friend

Yesterday morning I was talking to my Dad about their family pet, Minnie, the most adorable little menace you'll ever meet. When they adopted her 14 years ago, she was just a tiny grey meatball with giant ears. One of my favorite pictures of her is when she sat inside my Dad's shoe as a tiny pup, and she looked like she was sitting in a shoe boat with giant ears for sails. She was the first dog my son experienced as we were living with my parents after my divorce in 2011. She was a absolute mess, and she loved her humans with a fierceness and loyalty that is rare, even in dogs. Talking to my Dad, I learned that she had an aggressive form of cancer, and that she had days to live, best case scenario. I could hear the immense hurt in his voice, and it reminded me how much more our pups are to us than simple pets. They often, in their empathetic nature, soothe our anxiety, keep us company when we need it most, and make us laugh with their ridiculous antics. Minnie was notorious for eating an entire pound of cooked bacon off of the counter when we weren't looking, and running around in the country with turtle bones or a deer leg hanging out of her mouth, but in her eyes, she held more love than you would think is possible for a pup.

Over the years I've owned several dogs, and my current loves, Bolt and Lolly, are my little shadows, following me around to the point of sitting on my feet when I'm in the restroom. The excitement they show when you first wake up, and they realize that you just might not be going in to work today is enough to make you snort laugh. I can't even attempt to count the number of times my pups have caused a smile or a laugh when I was at a low moment, and the sight of their sweet face or their tail wagging changed my mood instantly. What a tremendous gift from God, these furry little babies with Frito smelling paws and drooly smiles!

This morning, Minnie passed the rainbow bridge and is in pain no longer. The wound in my parents' hearts cannot be described. As I saw here at school today thinking about Minnie and all of her crazy antics, cuddles, and kisses, it was easy to imagine how much pups like her could impact the world. God created companions for us that love us so unconditionally and loyally, mirroring His immense and undeserved love for us. They are little walking furry reminds of how God is good. They protect us (some of them more than others), love us, and keep us company in our best and worst moments. One of my favorite memories was watching my pup, Lolly, jumping wildly into the ocean waves for the first time with my son. I have stacks of pictures of Bolt and my son cuddling and playing, her face displaying a consistent and loyal love that you see only in their puppy eyes.

Researchers have begun to explore the potential impact that canine therapy can have for many groups of people, especially those with PTSD, past trauma, ASD, or those advanced in age and living in care facilities. They've even begin to infuse organizations with high burnout rates such as schools and hospitals with opportunities to spend time with therapy dogs to improve mental health. As more research is completed, it is impossible to ignore the potential impact that animals can provide if we are willing to take a risk and implement alternative forms of intervention.

In the Classroom

The majority of children served in schools with an ADHD diagnosis currently take medication to support symptoms that may become barriers to learning. Short term, these benefits can enhance focus and concentration, but very few studies have focused on the long term effectiveness of medication or it's potential consequences when taken for extended time periods. ADHD is increasingly diagnosed in school age children and may struggle with focus, attention to academic tasks, working memory or even executive functions (Jurickova et al, 2020). These symptoms can negatively effect academic success, and some students will struggle with additional challenges such as reading social cues accurately, empathizing with others, and collaborating in groups. Animal Assisted therapy, specifically with canines, offers a structured and goal oriented alternative or supplement to medication. These animals provide the child with a safe environment with a trusted companion, and have shown to improve social emotional health and interpersonal relationships. Canine companions in school also offer the benefit of encouraging calm for the child, and help regulate nervous system reactions or hyperarousal. Some studies have even shown that children who attend school with canine companions and service animals show a more positive impression of school in general, reduce the incidence of aggression with peers and helps increase empathy with other children and adults (Jurickova et al, 2020). Essentially, a student with ADHD who has access to a therapy dog will experience a sense of calm, a reduction in hyperactivity and hyperarousal, enhanced social interactions with peers and authority figures, and will be less likely to interrupt direct instruction and instead intentionally focus their attention to the teacher.

In general, learning is enhanced for children between the ages of nine to fifteen with the use of a canine companion, especially if it is an addition to or combination with other interventions. Specifically, learning is influence indirectly by enhancing motivation and engagement, and providing support for social skills such as empathy and collaboration. In children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, or ASD, interventions involving animals in a school setting were shown to improve cognitive and social skills. Children with ASD experienced a reduction in irritability and anxiety, and were able to show improvement in skills related to self control, social competence and self awareness. Impressively, children who have experienced early trauma were positively effected by animal assisted therapy in a school setting as well, citing improvements in social skills, leadership, and reduced hyperactivity. All children showed reductions in anxiety and enhanced self esteem when participating in canine therapy within a classroom setting (Moe et al, 2025). When my own son was in elementary school, he avoided reading assignments and did not find joy in writing or reading. A program was available at his campus where he could read weekly to a puppy to encourage a love of literacy, and his attitude towards reading took a complete 180. The mornings he was scheduled to read to his assigned puppy in the library were filled with excitement, and he spoke lovingly of the books and puppies as soon as he returned home from school. The program was able to send several photos of my son, book in hand, huge smile on his face as he read to a small wire haired white puppy laying calmly in his lap. This bump in confidence while reading is not isolated to my son or this single program. George Kleftaras explains that companion animals, especially dogs, can have many additional positive impacts on children inside and outside of a school setting. In general, companion animals allow children to build important skills such as patience when frustrated, independently initiating effort, and increased internal motivation to achieve personal goals. He goes on to describe that companion animals provide children with stress relief, energize them to participate in creative tasks and motivate them to have fun and cooperate with others in learning. In a self reporting study, children also experienced a nine percent increase in self esteem after interacting with companion dogs in a classroom setting, and administrators observing the study noted that there was an increase in enthusiasm for learning inside and outside of the classroom (Kleftaras, 2024).

This positive impact stemming from companion animals such as dogs is not just felt by students and children, but by their teachers as well. One specific study focused on the stress levels of nursery or pre-school teachers, noting that their chronically high stress levels were linked to retention issues, psychological symptoms and the onset of stress-related diseases such as heart conditions or stroke. In Japan, primary schools have begun to use animals as living educational tools, promoting animal rearing skills as a method to enhance the values of respect for life and caring for nature- social skills that will ultimately lead to increased empathy in the classroom. These direct experiences in early childhood provide children with hands on methods for learning how to nurture, care for, and empathize with animals, then allows them to extend those skills to other humans. Including this social training for young children proved to have a positive impact on the teachers in their classrooms, and researchers noted that teachers expressed a change in psychological mood from anxious and overwhelmed to relaxed, with reduced symptoms of chronic stress (Fujisawa et al, 2022). Essentially, in addition to being man's best friend, canine companions in the school setting can provide children with social support, enhance inclusion and belonging, reduce daily stress or anxiety and promote motivation and resilience with their presence alone. Some schools have experienced increased attendance rates when canine companions are a part of the school culture, as they help create a safe and inviting learning environment (Jones & Shannon, 2025).

Tips for Initiating Canine Companions

Grant Shannon, the founder of Dogs Connect, highlights a few important considerations for welcoming dogs into the school environment. First, he suggests that we consider the autonomy of the animal as well as the humans they serve. As much as possible, the canines should be given choice and agency in how they participate in programs within schools. For example, some dogs may have a preference for where they are touched or pet, or may prefer to work with individuals who have specific temperaments or traits. Secondly, adults who work within these programs should be held to high standards of ethics when working with animals, and show a genuine interest in extended training and research regarding best practices. Finally, students and adults should be educated on body language specific to dogs to ensure a safe and mutually beneficial therapeutic arrangement (Jones & Shannon, 2025).

As I wrote this blog, I spoke to my students about the idea of providing animal assisted therapy or interventions in schools. Almost every student was adamant that they would be more willing to attend, focus and work if dogs were present on the campus and they had the opportunity to interact with them. I think about how we, as teachers, spend the entire summer and breaks with our fur babies, and rush home to see them at the end of the day. Many of us that work with children have pets at home who serve a similar therapeutic purpose in our lives, and the addition of service animals on campuses has the potential to positively impact both students and staff. In fact, even the mere act of seeing a dog with its head out the window on my way to work, tongue wagging in the breeze, brings a smile to my face and starts my day with a joyous perspective.

Many of our teachers and staff are regularly exposed to dysregulated students, or even violent outbursts in our classrooms. I work with several paraprofessionals that serve special education students who have hit, punched, kicked, or pushed them into walls on a daily basis. On every campus I have been employed, there are numerous stories of staff and teachers with broken bones, bruises, or wounds from breaking up fights, managing violent outbursts or holding a defensive stance to provide safety to a student at their own health cost. Imagine a campus where after a teacher is stuck in a state of dysregulation, they are provided with access to animal assisted therapy to reduce stress, regulate their system, and provide an opportunity to spend time with a calming and nurturing animal. The burnout rate is high for teachers, staff, and support staff, and we need every advantage to keep good teachers in place with our students. Imagine the retention rates for a school that actively participates in research based animal assisted activities...I know I wouldn't want to leave.

I love my students, but I could really get attached to some puppies.

References

Fujisawa, H., Kumasaka, T. & Kudo, K. (2022). Effects of Animal-Assisted Activities on Stress Reduction in Nursery School Teachers. International Medical Journal, v.29(5): 269-272.

Jones, Erin & Shannon, Grant. (2025). Dogs in Schools: Dogs Connect as an Example of a Dogs-first Wellbeing Dog Programme. Aotearoa New Zealand Social Work 37(1), 109-120.

Jurickova, V., Bozdechova, A., Machova, K. & Vadronova, M. (2020). Effect of Animal Assisted Education with a Dog Within Children with ADHD in the Classroom: A Case Study. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal (2020) 37: 677-684. http://doi.org/10/1007/s10560-020-00716-x

Kleftaras, George. (2024). The Effect of Assisted Activity Programme on Elementary's Students' Self-Esteem. International Journal of Caring Science 2024, V. 17(1): 323.

Moe, I., Ho, P., Andersson, M., Karlberg, S., Lidfors, L, Sampaio, F., & Feldman, I. (2025). Effectiveness of Animal-Assisted Services for School Aged Children: A Systematic Review. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (2025) 34:3017-3033. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787/-025-02740-7