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He’s everybody’s good Buddy at school
vision@eap.on.ca Rockland
Buddy, a one-year-old long-haired daschund, is curled up in comfort in the arms of Grade 12 student Ashley Biefer, his head resting on her shoulder as the young woman smiles. Later, he scampers along the floor to another student, who bends down to scratch the loving little dog’s ears. Buddy, who belongs to Rockland Dis- trict High School (RDHS) teacher Kathleen Tonkin, isn’t just playing. He is hard at work as a therapy dog in Tonkin’s Desti- nation Employment Preparation Program (DEPP) class, helping to calm students who may have emotional issues, providing them an incentive to finish homework, and at times just brightening the perspective of a student who may be having a tough day. The students in Tonkin’s class have learning disabilities, may be battling emotional or psychological problems, and are at least four years behind their peers in the traditional system, explained Tonkin. Having Buddy’s smiling face in the room can help ease the fear these students have about coming to class. “A lot of these kids don’t feel successful at school,” said Tonkin. “They have a lot of baggage and don’t feel like they fit in or are engaged in school. Having Buddy around tends to reduce the formality of it. When they see him they immediately smile. “Kids gain the whole emotional benefit of having a dog around. It tends to make the
operations, Tonkin also used Buddy as a lead-in for a research project on puppy mills. As part of that module, the students wrote letters to Ottawa city councillors urging them to follow Toronto’s lead. Buddy is also a key player in teaching lessons in character education. “Empathy is a huge one (that he helps with),” explained Tonkin. “If a student has had difficulty in a family situation or is having difficulty with their peers, sometimes it’s hard for them to feel empathy for others. But they can feel it for a dog. They can build trust and empathy for Buddy and hopefully can transfer that to other people.” Students enjoy having Buddy around. “It’s a good idea because I feel that dogs are a natural stress ball,” said Jake Knight “When you start to pet them and they lick your face to give you a kiss, it’s enough to calm the savage beast.” Knight recalls a recent day when he was in a black mood. “I was really having trouble concentrating, and Mrs. Tonkin suggested that I take Buddy for a walk, and I let him off the leash and we ran to the trees and it was just a great way to let off steam,” he said. “Afterwards, I was able to concentrate on the work at hand and there was nothing that could break my concentration.”
environment more comfortable.” Buddy, a jovial little animal that Tonkin has had trained as a therapy dog, participates with the class in several ways.
On any given day, he will be used to calm kids down who may be having issues. Buddy will provide company to a student who may need a timeout. Taking Buddy for a walk is used as an incentive for good behaviour or for finishing homework. His impact can be significant, Tonkin said. She cited the case of one student who was very aggressive and very loud and always seemed to be yelling. The boy was frustrated because Buddy did not want to interact with him. But when he was finally able to calm himself down, he discovered the dog would come to him and sit in his lap. Buddy was able to cheer the boy up so he could participate in class again. “He learned to change his behaviour for a dog and eventually we hope he may be able to change his behaviour for an em- ployer and a spouse. This may have a big impact on his life.” Buddy has also served the students as an subject for some of their lessons as well. In math, Tonkin asked students to figure out how much it would cost for dog ownership expenses – including feeding, veterinary bills, and dog licenses - for Buddy. “And they did the lessons not because they had to but because they wanted to.” With puppy mills in the news in recent months after Toronto passed a bylaw banning the sale of dogs and cats from such
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