Better Living Through Zoology: Bernice Goes To School

Bernice in her "work clothes"

Starting one week ago, Jeni has been taking Bernice to school as her counseling partner. Bernice wears the little vest, complete with ID badge, pictured above.

If you aren't familiar with "animal-assisted therapy" it's pretty awesome. It is a fact that people of all ages calm down and become more open when a friendly animal is around; in this case a big, friendly dog.

Jeni has already seen non-verbal kids get more verbal with Bernice, kids who need help with social skills get to practice on a dog, and kids with behavior problems work harder so that they can spend time with Bernice as a reward, and an unexpected benefit - Bernice reduces stress for teachers, too! Maybe most important, Jeni gets to work with one of her best friends.

For the kids who are afraid of dogs (very few) Jeni takes her whole arm and puts it in Bernice's mouth. A little slobber is a small price to pay for calming a child.

Bernice comes home pretty tired, but she appears to be having a great time. She especially liked Valentine's Day parties. Small children + cupcakes = lots of cupcake crumbs on the floor. She came home that day with icing on her face.

I am proud of my wife and my dog - co-counselors!