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By: Lilly Rayl and Josephine Buckley
Many of you have probably seen the EJHS therapy dog, Barley, walking around the school. It's great that the staff and students here have the opportunity to connect with her and learn about mental health. Students can visit Barley during counseling sessions and experience her companionship and calm demeanor. You might be able to visit with Barley if you see Mrs. Straw, Mrs. Schlemmer or Mrs. Laughlin. Most days, you can also see Barley out in the front lobby before homeroom starts.
Barley has proven to be effective for students, making them more comfortable to talk when she is near. Mrs. Straw, the counselor and owner of Barley says, “Since we have added a Barley signup, a lot of students are signing up to have her added to their sessions.” She also says, “We are seeing people we haven’t seen before because we have Barley here, which is wonderful.” There was a survey sent out at the end of last year that had great results in people loving having Barley at the school.
Mrs. Straw did lots of research before getting Barley. “I started researching different dogs and bernedoodles, at least whenever you do a Google search, were bred for the purposes of therapy.” Barley is hypoallergenic meaning she doesn’t shed and shouldn’t bother people with dog allergies. “It has seemed to be that the bernedoodles we have met throughout this process are wonderful companions and great with kids so that is how we decided on a bernedoodle.” Mrs. Straw said. “I think that other schools in our district would benefit from having a therapy dog and that is something that as a district we are working on.”
Barley interacting with students in the multi-purpose room
Barley's Yearbook Photo
Barley even had to go through some training in order to be qualified as a therapy dog and be able to “work” here at EJHS. Mrs. Straw says, “We had to get to know her first to see if she would be a good fit for it. We started classes like puppy preschool, and things like that from the time she was 8 weeks old until recently. She’s been in multiple classes, advanced therapy prep, and I had done some online education on how to have and use Barley in the school.” Barley has to go through something similar to graduation, but in a shorter time. She also says, “We’re waiting for Barley’s official certification, but we’ve done our pretest already and she did very well.”
Therapy animals like Barley can help with elevating your mood and relaxation. It has also been proven that therapy dogs can help people with anxiety. Regulating emotions is another benefit of being with a therapy dog. If you are having an emotional breakdown, or are dysregulated, being with Barley can be helpful in keeping the rest of your day positive.
https://www.therapydogs.com/therapy-animals-offering-comfort-and-cheer-to-people/ (Last paragraph)
Pictures Credit : Mrs. Straw
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