SWAMPSCOTT — The school district is planning to bring a therapy dog to the high school.
Lauren Calabrese, a school-adjustment counselor, introduced her family puppy, Indiana “Indy” Bones, to the School Committee this week.
Calabrese is hoping to train Indy as a therapy dog and asked the committee for permission to start getting the dog acclimated to the high school and being around a lot of people.
“Therapy dogs have been something that I have wanted for a very long time in this district,” said Superintendent of Schools Pamela Angelakis. “In my eighth year we are finally at the point where Lauren’s proposal is very realistic.”
Indy is a four-and-a-half-month-old labradoodle, a mix of a labrador retriever and a poodle.
Calabrese suggested adding Indy to the therapeutic Harbor program at the high school, where she could help students lower their anxiety and bring a little joy to the room.
“It is just another tool that we can be using,” she said.
Indy could help students better engage in counseling and be an incentive for them.
“I think that it can help with counseling attendance,” Calabrese said. “I know many students that find it very difficult to open up when they are talking to an adult about feelings, emotions, things that are going on. But when we start talking about animals or even when students just look at pictures of animals online, all of a sudden this shield comes down and they become more emotionally available and open.”
Indy is enrolled in a course of four training classes with the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (MSPCA) in Waltham. She has completed her puppy-socialization class and has started basic obedience class, Calabrese said.
After doing a higher level of obedience classes, she will take a Canine Good Citizen prep course, which is an American Kennel Club (AKC) designation. When Indy is 1 year old, she will take a test to get a therapy-dog certification.
Therapy dogs are well-behaved, well-mannered dogs that are there to provide comfort to many people, unlike an emotional-support animal, which provides emotional support to one person, or a service dog that is highly trained to help a disabled person with specific tasks, said Calabrese.
“I would be able to bring her into the building, work with me here, but also do some volunteer work out in the community,” said Calabrese.
Once Indy is certified as a therapy dog, Calabrese will be able to obtain professional-liability insurance for her as her handler. However, the dog is now at an important time developmentally, where exposure is key.
“With dogs, it is really important to have them exposed to different environments, different smells, different sounds up until about five months,” said Calabrese. “We are really at a place right now where it is important to get her into the building, get around students and people, learning how to behave in this environment.”
Calabrese suggested using permission slips signed by parents to address some concerns about allergies (even though Indy does not shed) and liability, while the dog is not certified. Indy will be covered under Calabrese’s homeowner’s insurance, however.
“Not everybody is a dog person — I totally understand that,” said Calabrese. “If they don’t want to interact with the dog, the dog can be in my office.”
In her presentation, Calabrese asked for funding for the training, a membership at the Alliance of Therapy Dogs and liability insurance, which would amount to about $1,300 in total.
“As long as the policies are updated and we make sure the liabilities are set, I think it is a great idea,” said School Committee member John Giantis.
The School Committee decided to update the two policies that regulate having animals on school property and revisit the matter at its next meeting in May.
