A true Blue friend
Photos: LOREN BENOIT/Press Blue gives fifth-grader Samantha Taub a kiss during his visit to the Winton Elementary School library on Thursday.
Blue, a 12-week-old therapy dog in training, visited students yesterday at Winton Elementary School. Here, Blue gives fifth-grader Giovanna Amador a kiss during his visit to the school’s Library. (LOREN BENOIT/Press)
Blue poses for the camera during his visit to Winton Elementary School.
Blue, a 12-week-old Bernedoodle, has joined the Winton Elementary School family as the resident therapy dog. He’s soft, sweet and eases the stress students and even staff members may be experiencing. (Courtesy photo)
Blue is a Bernedoodle, a breed known for its gentle temperament and therapeutic abilities. They’re especially good with kids. (Courtesy photo)
COEUR d’ALENE — A new pup has joined the Winton Wolf Pack.
His name is Blue, but it's nearly impossible to feel blue in this personable puppy's presence.
"I love dogs," said fifth-grader Giovanna Amador. "It’s like a part of me since I was little, and knowing there’s a new dog here makes me happy, like there’s a piece of me in the school."
As Blue carried his stuffed hedgehog through the school on Thursday, Winton Elementary students and staff could be heard saying "Hi doggie!" and "There's our baby!" while he made his way to the library with owner and handler Erin Duncan.
Blue immediately sniffed out three boys who were sitting on the ground reading. The pup said "hello" to fifth-graders Zac Kerns, Quinn Holt and Ezekiel Potter, who couldn't help but smile as the 12-week-old hypoallergenic therapy dog made his rounds.
"I’ve been here since kindergarten and we weren’t allowed to have pets at school because you know, allergies," Ezekiel said. "I think it’s kind of fun having a dog in the school."
"It’s nice because for kids that are either having a rough day or need to get stress out," Quinn said. "They can go say 'hi' to this dog and get their stress out by just saying hi and greeting him."
“It also boosts interacting skills and social skills,” Zac added.
Blue is a Bernedoodle, which is a cross between a Bernese mountain dog and a poodle. The breed is known for its gentle temperament, adaptability to children and natural abilities in therapeutic support. He is currently in training to become a licensed therapy animal and when full grown, he will be about 60 pounds of love and wavy fluff.
Duncan, a behavior support assistant for Winton, introduced Blue to the school about a month ago. He lives with her, but she brings him in to see the kids every day.
Duncan said the bottom line was to bring in Blue as a benefit to the students as well as the staff. His interactions help reduce stress and decrease anxiety throughout the entire school, and he has an innate sense of who might be in need of canine compassion.
“This is something very special that we get to do here at Winton,” Duncan said. "I’ve seen more staff over the last couple weeks than in the seven years that I’ve been here. It’s such a de-escalation for adults as well."
Principal Eileen Blough said she has noticed a calmness in the students since Blue started coming around.
"I'm seeing more empathy,” she said. "It really teaches them to care for something and to see something in other people too."
She said many of the students struggle with social skills, motivation or anxiety, while others have high needs and need behavioral support.
"We have kids that come from hard places, in our district and our school,” Blough said.
Even the kids who struggle with attendance are already experiencing the positive effects of Blue's visits.
"Our attendance was horrible this whole year, it’s been really bad,” Blough said. "Since he’s been here this past month, I’ve been getting the attendance reports and our attendance is wonderful, so I think there might be a correlation."
Duncan is pursuing a bachelor's degree in social work from Lewis-Clark State College, and she will be collecting data from Blue's experiences in the school to try to prove that simply the presence of an animal can show a reduction in stress and anxiety in students and possibly staff. She purchased Blue from Sandpoint Doodles and she has spent her own funds to incorporate a therapy dog into her school, following all the proper protocol as per the district.
School counselor Brianna Birdsall said she is already seeing a sense of trust building around Blue.
"We’re trying really hard to be a trauma-informed school and be sensitive to the kids that we serve and the hard places that they come from," she said. "This has been instrumental in a lot of our kids who come from trauma. What we know about trauma is that play disarms fear, and really that connection with kids and building that sense of trust is the only way that we’re going to impact them.
"It’s been really good so far, and it’s only been a few weeks," she added. "It even reduces my anxiety!"