Earlier this week, I was contacted by one of the teachers at the local elementary school. It was not my daughters school (we are working with the principal of that school to start a program with Ivan) but the other K-5 school. They needed a therapy dog to visit and talk with a group of students. This is a group that meets about 2x per month and is focused on pets/animals. This was Tuesday morning and they needed us to come on Wednesday morning. Of course I said yes but then I panicked a little. This would be our third visit as a therapy group and while I knew the teacher and a few of the students involved I was still a little nervous. I was used to going to my husbands classroom and this was going to be all new.
I spent Tuesday working up note cards for a brief presentation about Ivan and therapy dogs-what is the difference between therapy, service and emotional support, who is Ivan and some of the ways he helps people. I also made trader cards for all the students- 45 of them!
We arrived at the school a little early so they had us wait in the reading teachers room. We chatted a little bit about therapy dogs and I gave her some info about the Platte Pet Power program and the School Therapy Dog Facebook page etc. People popped in to see Ivan and get/give him some love. The principal came in and introduced herself.
Finally, we were led into the classroom. It was a normal classroom but since this was a special group meeting, there were about 2x as many students as normal. There were students in desks and on the floor. It was a good test for Ivan and he handled it like a champ. They led us to the front of the room where a chair/area was set up for us. Let's take a time out right here- this is the first place I realized I should have handled the visit differently. I am Ivan's advocate so I should have set out some ground rules
1. We need a clear path to get to the front of the classroom
2. The classroom/students should be quiet and relaxed. (these students did pretty good with this and it was a big group so I understand the chatter/excitement.)
3. We need a radius for Ivan to have room to sit/lay down. (I brought a towel and I should have put it out right away for him. The students kept inching closer to him. Again, I understand this but I feel like I need to set up some kind of boundaries for him)
4. Only one person speaks at a time. (My friend suggested having something to pass around and if you don't have it in your hand, you are not able to talk.)
5. I need an assistant-that can be someone I bring with me or someone they assign to me.
The visit went really well but these were just things I thought could have made it go better. He barked once and it scared some of the kids. However, I explained that he was barking because they weren't petting him at that time. I also tried to explain this is part of advocating/understanding Ivan that is an important part of my job. I need to watch his body language (which includes barking) to know what he is saying. I knew this was not a mean/mad/worried bark and I explained that to the kids.
The other thing I realized from this visit is that I really need an assistant. I can't let go of the leash. When I am trying to hold the leash, keep the students from getting on top of us, watching him for signs of discomfort/nervousness etc it is hard to then also get cards/info out for a discussion, lay out a towel for his space etc. I was able to do the talk just from memory but it would have been better (I would have felt more prepared) if I could read my notes.
I think the more visits we do the more comfortable we will become. It is a learning process and overall this was a great visit and I am SO glad we did it. I needed to step out of my comfort zone a bit to see what we needed to change. The students were engaged and so excited to meet Ivan. They asked some great questions!
Thank you to everyone who is reading this- I really thought my mom was the only regular reader so I was super excited when I got a message on Instagram from someone that appreciated the blog. Hopefully our stumbles will help others navigate the therapy dog world.
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