General News
10 March, 2022
Terang College welcomes support dog
A GOLDEN Retriever named Cooper has joined the ranks at Terang College as the school’s therapy dog.
A GOLDEN Retriever named Cooperhas joined the ranks at Terang College as the school’s therapy dog.
The four-year-old pup made his debut in front of the delighted P-4 student cohort on Tuesday with owner Leah Boyd, who teaches Spanish and Art at the college.
While the addition of Cooper to the classroom was a happy novelty for students, therapy dogs serving in the education environment has been a rapidly growing trend with studies showing a wide range of benefits for students including improved social and interpersonal skills, reduced stress and anxiety, and increased engagement.
Ms Boyd said therapy dogs had proven to be “more of an asset than a distraction”.
“Therapy dogs are a calming influence, and even this week having him in the classroom with the preps was amazing,” she said.
“The students were sitting with Cooper doing their colouring, and they just seemed calmer.
“We have one student who can struggle sitting still, and you can’t train this, but Cooper seems to sense it so he went right over and the little boy just kept patting him and was able to concentrate on what we were doing with Cooper right next to him.”
Ms Boyd and Cooper completed Animal Assisted Intervention training in Cobden earlier this year.
The training focused on general discipline and safety, helping to ensure the classroom remained a safe environment for both students and Cooper.
The training also served to strengthen the strong bond between Cooper and Ms Boyd which has existed since she adopted him two years ago.
“I adopted him when he was just two years old after his previous owner moved and no longer had the space for him,” she said.
“He’s been a great pet, and people kept saying I should look in to therapy because he is such a people-oriented dog.
“He just loves people. He is great with my children, so it made sense to take him the next step forward.”
Cooper will join the students every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday.
How he is best suited to the classroom will be an evolving process, but Terang College P-6 assistant principal Julie-Ann Kelly said she was confident students would enjoy the benefits.
“I think it will definitely be beneficial for a number of our students and for the general cohort,” she said.
“It’s another way of delivering therapy without kids even knowing it’s being delivered, just through bringing that calming influence.
“For some reason, animals just seem to bring out the best in students.
“Having seen the kids working, the focus is taken off the student. They don’t feel self-conscious about what is going on in their life or around them because they’re being distracted in a relaxed environment.”
