Dog’s make everything better*. An obvious fact.
*Unless you have allergies. I’m sorry for your loss.
I just got a dog! That’s him asleep in the picture. His name is Puck (from Shakespeare and like a hockey puck), and he is about a year old. While I love dogs and I wanted one in general, part of the reason I got Puck was to be my therapy dog. I have anxiety, and Puck’s job is to calm me before I implode and to motivate me to do things even when I’m paralyzed by fear or pacing I’m so anxious.
While Puck is not a certified service animal, he has the capacity to be (if I wanted to spend the time and money). When I was looking into this possibility, I discovered a few programs that use dogs to encourage children to read. Much like hospital service animals, their purpose is to calm and encourage their patients. These dogs sit with kids while they read and the kids read to them. Usually these kids have special needs or have some sort of learning disability. Through the dog’s empathetic connection to the children, they become more literate. Sometimes the handlers are also trained to assist with teaching the kids, but often it is the teacher’s responsibility.
