Therapy Dog Already Benefitting Students At Journey
9 December 2019 News
The therapy dog at the Journey Charter School in Ripon is making progress. Barlow Park Elementary and Journey Principal Tanya Sanderfoot says the 3-month-old Goldendoodle named Shelby is still being trained for her role as a therapy dog, but she’s already helping out students. “Because she’s still a puppy she doesn’t roam the classroom freely, she doesn’t roam into other classrooms yet she’s either in her kennel or in her handler’s arms or someone’s arms, but when she’s in her kennel we do have a lot of kids that like to read to her.” Shelby lives with her handler Carrie Naparalla and spends the majority of her time in Naparalla’s classroom. Shelby is attending Puppy Preschool through Ideal Dog in Oshkosh and will continue training through her first year as she prepares for therapy dog certification. Therapy dogs are canines that are trained to provide comfort and affection to people in retirement homes, nursing homes, hospices, schools, hospitals, and disaster areas.
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