Therapy dogs have become increasingly popular over the years, and with good reason. These animals provide invaluable emotional support that you just can’t put a price tag on.
The students, faculty, and staff at Goshen Middle School in Ohio are fortunate to have a facility dog of their very own. Meg is a 2-year-old golden retriever who spends her days bringing smiles to the faces of everyone she meets.
Meg was raised from puppyhood for this work, graduating from Circle Tail, Inc. training about a year ago. When she’s off duty, Meg lives with seventh grade math teacher Kelly DeNu, a trained facility dog handler.
Each day, Meg spends time with each grade level, including special education classes. She meets with the kids in the autism unit weekly, and is always available for mental health appointments with anyone who needs one. She eats lunch with the teachers, who also benefit from her calm, friendly presence.
“A few teachers have used ‘Meg Passes’ as incentives for students to earn,” Circle Tail, Inc. wrote on Facebook. “When they earn this pass, they get 5 minutes with Meg to just hang out with or play ball, and both are super excited to do this.”
“Since Meg began her job as a facility dog, she has provided 1,200 hours of service to the students of Goshen Local Schools,” Kelly told Circle Tails. “One hundred percent of students have been introduced to Meg through video and informed of the correct way to interact with and approach her.
Eighty-five percent of classroom teachers have invited Meg into their classrooms to meet Meg in person and either participate in their lesson, or just used Meg’s presence to interact with students.”
As such a huge part of the school community, it is only fitting that Meg gets her own photo in the school yearbook! Here’s last year’s picture.
Pretty cute, right? We didn’t think it was possible to top such an adorable photo, but this year’s picture is somehow even more precious!
Meg’s handlers seem to agree, adding the photos to the dog’s Instagram page with the caption, “Results are in!!! I think I nailed my yearbook photo!! What do you think?”
She definitely nailed it, don’t you agree? What a beautiful smile! Meg is proving that working dogs have a place just about everywhere humans go, including schools and offices. Who could ask for a sweeter coworker?