Daisy the therapist
If Hamilton’s Te Ao Ma¯ rama School held a popularity contest, it’s fair to say Daisy the dog would win paws down.
Whenever the 11-week-old chocolatecoloured pup goes for walks around the school grounds, a gathering of young admirers quickly forms.
‘‘I feel like the Pied Piper in the morning,’’ Daisy’s owner and deputy principal Anna Pratt, said.
‘‘We go and do the rounds and then when we come down the lane, there’s 20 kids behind us.’’
Daisy is being trained as a therapy dog and has become a regular – and popular – fixture at the school during the past two weeks.
Principal Tony Grey said boosting students’ self esteem and assisting them to build relationships is a focus at the school. Te Ao Ma¯ rama School was opened in term one of this year.
‘‘In developing a new school we talk a lot about the three most important things at our school being relationships, relationships and relationships,’’ Grey said.
‘‘Everything is geared around the power of relationships. In terms of Daisy and therapy dogs, research indicates they help build relationships, help calm students and reduce anxiety, and help promote self esteem. A dog can do things we can’t as humans and any resources that we can get to help students and their needs, we’ll certainly take it.’’
Therapy dogs are also used at Hamilton’s Rototuna Junior High School where Pratt was previously an assistant principal.
Pratt said therapy dogs can be used in a variety of classroom settings. Reluctant readers who don’t like sharing in front of their teachers or peers, can find reading to a dog less stressful.
‘‘The calming influence Daisy can have is remarkable,’’ Pratt said.
‘‘Yesterday morning we had a student who was reluctant to let her mum go because she had just started school. I was asked to go into the classroom with Daisy and straight away the child began to focus on Daisy and pat her. Mum was able to leave because the child’s attention was fixed on Daisy rather than her own personal struggle.’’
Daisy is a spoodle – half spaniel, half poodle. Her wool coat makes her hypoallergenic. She’ll grow to 40cm in height when fully grown.
Although still in training, Daisy’s ability to learn new tricks and commands has impressed staff.
Her calm demeanour and puppy good looks has also proved a winning combination with students.
‘‘Already Daisy has become a huge part of the school,’’ Pratt said.
‘‘After she’d been here a few weeks, kids stopped saying ‘Hi Anna’ and just started saying ‘Hi Daisy’.
Pratt said Daisy will also be used to teach children how to approach and interact with dogs.
‘‘We assume a lot of families have a dog but many families are busy and a lot rent and they might not be able to have pets. I was astounded by the number of kids who, in the first few weeks, came up and said they’d never seen a dog up close before.’’