therapy dog in infant school

[joanne526]

Is there anyone who is scared of dog, no matter what experience behind? I am just wondering how do the pupils who are scared of dogs but studying at a school stationing a therapy dog?

I took my therapy dogs into primary schools lots of times. There was almost always a child who was scared of dogs but after an hour or so of seeing that the dogs were calm and peaceful, they usually found the courage to at least stand beside them. Some were able to give a quick pat as well.

Therapy dogs don’t approach a child so the child can either ignore the dog - which is fine - or gradually get to know the dog. This can help enormously with children who become very distressed around dogs. It helps to take this fear out of their lives.

Sounds great. My dc was really afraid of the dogs when he was younger. I wish he had an experience like this.

I think one of the most difficult things about trying to help a child overcome a fear of dogs is lack of access to suitably quiet, trained dogs! So a therapy dog is great. They won’t bark, jump, etc. Really slow, gentle exposure at a distance, which will hopefully help the child to overcome their fear, making life easier for them.

Remember too that some children are not scared but simply don’t like dogs.

In my experience they won't see the dog often if they are not working with the dog. The dog won't be wandering around at playtime or popping in unannounced during maths.

The dog will be there for certain children. Sometimes a visit to to the dog would be offered as a reward for example. Max would enjoy hearing you read your story about the rainforest but nobody is going to insist a child who doesn't like dogs goes to see the school dog.

It's the perfect dog to introduce to a scared child. Highly trained and will not approach unless commanded to by the owner.