Therapy dogs make school easier for disabled Arizona kids

Dogs who have been trained to nurture and assist ­students with disabilities are showing up in classrooms from Queen Creek to ­Surprise this school year.

Gracie is a sweet-tempered golden Labrador retriever mix who lives and works with Apache Junction High School special- ­education teacher Pam Swart. The therapy dog is on the job five days a week in Swart's life-skills classroom for students with ­autism and intellectual disabilities.

Her duties? To calm and motivate 18 kids who find school ­extremely challenging.

"She's cool," said student Cassie Edwards, 15. "I give her hugs."

Because some students with autism are unable to speak, ­petting Gracie or taking her for a walk around the school campus helps ease their frustrations. Swart said students also learn ­responsibility when they walk Gracie or fill her water bowl.

"They love her," Swart said. "One boy completely changed his behavior when Gracie ­arrived."

At Marcos de Niza High in the Tempe Union ­district, an English yellow ­Labrador ­retriever service dog named Quilter attends student Eli Goldstick's classes with him.

Her assignment? To help the student keep his balance, to retrieve dropped pencils and notebooks, and perform other tasks.

At home, Quilter turns light switches on and off, opens and closes doors and drawers, and pulls off Eli's socks.

No local organization tracks the exact number of dogs like Gracie and Quilter in metro Phoenix, or how many help out in schools. But a check with Valley school ­officials shows that at least 11 districts or charter schools have therapy or service dogs working on some of their ­campuses this year.

Nationally, so many ­therapy-dog ­owners are interested in certification from the American Kennel Club that the organization in July began offering four levels of "therapy dog" certification, from "novice" to "distinguished." More than 900 dogs have received certification this year.

And Assistance Dogs International, in Santa Rosa, Calif, reports that nearly 7,000 of its 16,200 members own or handle service dogs.

The American Kennel Club points out on its therapy-dog certification applications that therapy dogs are not the same as service dogs. Therapy dogs comfort people in hospitals, care homes and schools.

They typically have less training than service dogs, who help people who have ­disabilities.

Dogs that show up at schools have a wide range of training.

Swart's Gracie has just ­finished an American Kennel Club puppy class and is working on a "good-citizenship ­certificate." Swart intends for Gracie to earn the club's ­therapy-dog certification.

In comparison, Bandit, a 2-year-old German shepherd, went though more than 3,000 hours of training to become a seizure-detection dog. He is attending classes with a Queen Creek Unified School District student this year.

While the American Disabilities Act prohibits businesses from discriminating against service dogs, it does not require that businesses admit therapy dogs. The American Kennel Club also prohibits therapy-dog owners from ­misrepresenting their dogs as service animals.

The Arizona Department of Education does not regulate assistance dogs in schools.

"The use of therapy or ­service animals in a classroom or by students is a local school-district issue," department spokeswoman Sally Stewart said.

Superintendent Chad ­Wilson approved Gracie's ­access to Apache Junction High School last spring. Swart said part of the process ­included checking with ­parents to make sure no students were allergic to dogs.

Swart said she has wanted to bring a therapy dog to her special-education class for the past five years but has had trouble finding the right dog.

Swart is an experienced dog owner and handler. Her husband, Ron Swart, is a K-9 handler for the Mesa Police Department.

They live with Ron's canine partner, Lotus, a Dutch shepherd who specializes in drug detection and building searches, and Maggie, a chocolate lab Pam deemed "too hyper" to train to bring to school.

"We are dog lovers," she said.

When Gracie's former ­owner, a busy high-school ­student, offered the gentle lab mix to the Swarts, Pam knew she had a therapy dog.

"When I saw how calm her temperament was, I knew she was the one for the job," she said.

How therapy dogs teach students responsibility

Tasks that Apache Junction High School students perform for therapy dog Gracie:

They take her on bathroom breaks outside.

They fill her water bowl.

They keep her groomed.

They reward her good behavior.

They walk her on campus with an adult.

Source: Apache Junction Unified School District

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