{"id":49156,"date":"2018-04-05T03:43:07","date_gmt":"2018-04-05T07:43:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/utnews.utoledo.edu\/?p=49156"},"modified":"2018-05-22T20:23:17","modified_gmt":"2018-05-23T00:23:17","slug":"therapy-dog-and-educator-inspire-energize-children-at-local-schools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/04_05_2018\/therapy-dog-and-educator-inspire-energize-children-at-local-schools","title":{"rendered":"Therapy dog and educator inspire, energize children at local schools"},"content":{"rendered":"

Instant smiles. It\u2019s almost a whiteout inside Reynolds Elementary School. <\/p>\n

Hazel, the therapy dog, is in the hallway, and happiness abounds.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Marquis, a student at Reynolds Elementary School, petted Hazel, a therapy dog, as owner Dr. Dawn Sandt watched.<\/p><\/div>It\u2019s just another day for the sweet, outgoing golden retriever and her owner, Dr. Dawn Sandt, associate professor in the Department of Early Childhood, Higher Education and Special Education.<\/p>\n

\u201cHazel!\u201d yelled a boy in the preschool special-needs classroom, alerting all to the visitors.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you want to go see Hazel?\u201d teacher Bridget Harding asked as the children walked and crawled toward the therapy dog that laid down and was content literally being the center of attention.<\/p>\n

\u201cGet your pets in,\u201d Harding encouraged the kids sitting around their four-legged friend. \u201cLet\u2019s talk about Hazel\u2019s tail today. She\u2019s wagging her tail. When she\u2019s happy, she wags it back and forth. Ricardo, where\u2019s your tail? Do you have a tail?\u201d<\/p>\n

Ricardo shook his head no, beaming as he ran his hand over Hazel\u2019s soft coat. <\/p>\n

Sandt knelt next to Hazel; she held the dog\u2019s leash and monitored all interactions. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Dr. Dawn Sandt, right, and Reynolds Elementary School teacher Leah Richter, center, watched as Hazel visited Ireland.<\/p><\/div>Then it was on to a classroom to see medically fragile students.<\/p>\n

Hazel walked up to teacher Leah Richter. After soaking up compliments and a few pats, Hazel melted into the floor and flipped over, and Richter obliged with a belly rub.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s her shtick \u2014 she says \u2018Hi\u2019 and rolls over,\u201d Sandt said and laughed. \u201cShe likes it here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Watching it all from her wheelchair was Ireland, who could not stop smiling.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou love it when Hazel and Dawn come!\u201d Richter said to Ireland.<\/p>\n

With encouragement from Sandt, Hazel put her paws on the edge of Ireland\u2019s chair \u2014 and the girl grinned.<\/p>\n

Then it was time to see the younger medically fragile students.<\/p>\n

Marquis, a student seated on the floor, clapped and started humming when Hazel trotted into the room.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Paraprofessional Zippy Keith helped Lee grasp a tennis ball to give to Hazel during a recent visit to Reynolds Elementary School.<\/p><\/div>\u201cWe have a gift! We have doggy tennis balls for Hazel,\u201d paraprofessional Zippy Keith announced.<\/p>\n

The children took turns tossing the ball for the canine. For the first time, Lee picked up a ball and handed it to Hazel.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, teacher Liz Bishop told Tessa she needed to complete her assignment so she could see Hazel. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re all so happy to see Hazel. We enjoy her,\u201d Keith said as the kids petted the retriever.<\/p>\n

\u201cAren\u2019t you glad you got your work done?\u201d Bishop asked Tessa, who lit up when Hazel gently stood up on the side of her wheelchair.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you for the visit,\u201d paraprofessional Melissa Falkenberg said as Sandt and Hazel left. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe best part of making the rounds with Hazel is seeing students progress toward their individualized goals and realizing Hazel did contribute to that progress in some way,\u201d Sandt said. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Paraprofessional Melissa Falkenberg smiled as Hazel took her tennis ball to Dylan. The therapy dog regularly visits Reynolds Elementary School.<\/p><\/div>Sandt and Hazel have been visiting students at Reynolds Elementary for two years. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe started in the classrooms where students were medically fragile. Hazel does well in those classrooms because she is willing to initiate contact with the children,\u201d Sandt said. \u201cThe children have opportunities to track her with their eyes, reach out to pet her, and grasp and drop a ball for her to retrieve. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted to go into that classroom because the medically fragile population need intensive interventions, and I thought Hazel could help with communication and social interaction, as well as some range of motion activities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed, the pretty pooch that will turn 4 in August does just that. Tessa communicated with her assistive device so she could see Hazel, and Lee had a breakthrough by picking up a tennis ball.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe teachers, nurses and I thought that was pretty extraordinary for [Lee], who is medically fragile and also has sensory issues. The nurse said he had never shown that type of initiative before,\u201d Sandt said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like watching the preschool students interact with Hazel,\u201d she said. \u201cThis gives the students a chance to learn about dogs, their body parts, how they move, and how to care for them. The preschool students are learning content knowledge \u2014 for example, same vs different \u2014 and functional skills like waiting their turn, asking permission to pet, communicating their name and Hazel\u2019s name. These are relevant skills they can use in kindergarten and in the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

The duo also visits McTigue Elementary School. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe administration and teachers within Toledo Public Schools have been wonderful to Hazel, and it is work that makes a difference,\u201d Sandt said. \u201cWherever we go, the teachers appreciate the opportunity to interact with her.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Dr. Dawn Sandt said Hazel would go home and sleep after visiting children at Reynolds Elementary School.<\/p><\/div>Dr. Virginia Keil, interim dean of the Judith Herb College of Education, said Sandt and Hazel are an example of how faculty collaborate with Toledo Public Schools.<\/p>\n

\u201cDawn is deeply committed to working with our school partners to provide support for medically fragile children with special needs along with the educators in these classrooms,\u201d Keil said. \u201cTherapy dogs like Hazel are desperately needed to provide affection, comfort and love, which can help to improve the lives of the children they have visited. <\/p>\n

\u201cWatching Dawn and Hazel work together to support these children is heart-warming. Their work is an invaluable service to the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is growing evidence that animals in school settings have potential benefits on cognitive and socio-emotional behavior, as well as physiological responses of children,\u201d Sandt said. \u201cHowever, there is a need for a larger evidence base of studies that are designed with more rigor and adhere to strict protocols for human and animal welfare and safety.\u201d<\/p>\n

To that end, Sandt is working with Dr. Janet Hoy-Gerlach, associate professor in the UT Social Work Program and author of the book, \u201cHuman-Animal Interactions: A Social Work Guide.\u201d They have applied for a grant to explore how therapy dogs can be used in applied behavior analysis interventions for students with disabilities.<\/p>\n

Sandt has another golden retriever, Rusty. The 2-year-old is training to be a therapy dog.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t imagine doing anything else with the time I have on this earth,\u201d she said as she gave Hazel a treat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hazel, a therapy dog that belongs to Dr. Dawn Sandt, associate professor in the Department of Early Childhood, Higher Education and Special Education, is a regular at Reynolds Elementary School.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,53,7],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49156"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49156"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49156\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49968,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49156\/revisions\/49968"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}