School Resource Dogs
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The objective of the School Resource Dog program at Lakeville Area Schools is to safely partner with a highly trained facility dog in a broad range of instructional and non-instructional areas to increase student engagement, decrease anxiety, increase student motivation, reinforce existing skills and provide unique experiences. All District School Resource Dogs have been fully trained as service dogs with hundreds of hours of training, but based on their specific temperaments they were best suited for a career as a School Resource Dog.
Meet Our School Resource Dogs!
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Click on any of the pictures to learn more about each of our school resource dogs!
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Kali (Cherry View Elementary)
Kali
Kali is a 9-year-old Goldendoodle who works at Cherry View Elementary. Kali received her training from PawPADs in Lakeville and spent some of that training time in the prison system. Kali loves her job and is so happy to see the students when they arrive. She helps students by being a calming presence and giving them all kinds of attention. The students love seeing her perform tricks on the morning announcements. Kali is a very important part of our school community.
Kali lives with Sheila Vosper, the Student Support Specialist at Cherry View, and her family. We are so thankful for Kali!
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Baxter (Eastview Elementary)
Baxter
Baxter is the newest addition of School Resource Dogs to Lakeville Area Schools. He started his work as a School Resource Dog at Eastview in October of 2021. He was born on May 5, 2018 and is a Yellow Labrador Retriever. Baxter was in training for three years with PawPADs before being placed at Eastview Elementary. All of the costs associated with placement and dog care fees are paid for through donations and the support of local community partnerships such as Lakeville Family Pet Care and the Fancy Paws Pet Salon.
Hero will be retiring after the 2021-22 school year and Baxter will be his successor. Baxter’s warm, calm, and approachable personality is a perfect match for Eastview! He loves to greet staff and students whenever they come into the building by getting up off of his mat and meeting them at the door with a wiggle. He puts many smiles on the faces of students and staff each and every day. Baxter works with many handlers throughout the school day. He helps at Eastview by calming students who are struggling with anxiety, reading with students, and spending time with students for their birthday. We are excited to have Baxter as part of our Eastview family!
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Benji (John F. Kennedy Elementary)
Benji
Benji is a 7-year-old Golden Doodle (Golden Retriever/Poodle mix). Benji received his formal training from PawPADS in Lakeville. He trained to be an ADA service dog, learning approximately 96 different commands and how to work with a person with a disability. Benji started his work at John F. Kennedy Elementary in 2018. He has already made a big difference in the lives of many students and staff members!
Each day, Benji enters the building with an eagerness to do a great job. Benji greets both students and staff with a wagging tail, putting smiles on the faces of all he meets. JFK has seven handlers in the building, so Benji sees many different people. Benji’s greatest gift is helping kids to feel comfortable at school. He has a gentle way of calming those who are struggling with anxiety. Benji also helps students with reading skills and spending time with Benji is used as an incentive for good behavior.
Benji lives with JFK Office Manager, Sue York, who feels extremely lucky to have him as a roommate!
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Mysha (McGuire Middle School)
Mysha
Mysha services students at McGuire Middle School. Her person is Dr. Joshua Alexander. They can be seen walking the halls together during the day connecting with kids. Miss Mysha is currently 8 ½ years old. She has been at Mcguire since she was a year old. McGuire has nine different secondary handlers to support Mysha and her work in the classroom.
When not working at McGuire, Miss Mysha likes to play around at home with her two sisters, Luna and Ivy.
Former School Resource Dogs
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Click on the images to learn more about former school resource dogs who have served in our schools in the past!
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Enzo
Enzo
Black lab mix.
Kenwood Trail Middle School 2014-2018.
Retired.
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Seamus
Seamus
Yellow lab.
Lake Marion Elementary 2017-2020.
Rest in Peace ❤️
Pawsitive Perspective Assistance Dogs (PawPADs)
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Pawsitive Perspective Assistance Dogs (PawPADs) partners with Lakeville Area Schools to provide highly trained dogs to serve as School Resource Dogs. The primary focus of PawPADs is dual-training assistance dogs for people with physical mobility disabilities and Type-1 diabetes and utilizing the process of training the dogs in educational and therapeutic initiatives.
Clients of PawPADs include:
- Wounded warriors and other persons with physical mobility challenges
- Children and adults with diabetes
- Facilities like schools, Veteran’s homes and victim services
Their funding relies primarily on individual contributions, corporate and foundation contributions, fundraisers, gifts-in-kind, and grants.
PawPADs is a 501(C)(3) non-profit organization 501(C)(3) charitable organization (EIN: 510593176) headquartered in Lakeville, Minnesota.
School Resource Dog FAQs
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What is the difference between a service dog and a facility dog?
A service dog is trained to support an individual. A facility dog is also trained. However, the dog works with multiple individuals and supports a broad range of needs.
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Do staff have to be trained?
Yes. All primary and secondary handlers complete mandatory handler training requirements.
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Who will be with the school resource dog during the day?
During the school day, the school resource dog is with a trained adult. The trained adults are known as handlers.
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Will the school resource dog live at school?
School resource dogs are at their school building during the school day and will be at their handler's home after school and on weekends.
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Do students have to work with the school resource dog?
The resource dogs are used to support, encourage, and celebrate student successes. The dogs will not work with or have contact with students who have a fear of dogs or an allergy to dogs. Our first priority is for all students to feel safe at school and to enjoy being at school. Students who are comfortable working with the dogs will have an opportunity to do so. The school resource dog will only work with students who want to work with it.
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How can we help support the school resource dog?
Members of the school community may support this innovative opportunity through financial or in-kind donations, contribution of ideas, volunteering time or by being a positive advocate and spreading the word to other people or organizations who may be able to support our work. The group we are partnering with, PawPADs, is a non-profit group that is always accepting support as well.
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Where can I get more information about the benefits of a school resource dog?
- This is the group we are partnering with. Our mission is to enrich the lives of people with disabilities by providing them with exceptionally skilled assistance dogs; To utilize the power of the human-canine bond as a therapeutic, educational, healing tool.
Canine Companions for Independence
- Canine Companions for Independence is a non-profit organization that enhances the lives of people with disabilities by providing highly trained assistance dogs and ongoing support to ensure quality partnerships. Headquartered in Santa Rosa, CA, Canine Companions is the largest non-profit provider of assistance dogs.
- Our mission is to improve the quality of life for individuals with disabilities and others through the use of trained assistance dogs. We work with people to provide assistance dogs matched to their individual needs.
- Through educational and vocational programs, Assistance Dogs of the West provides trained assistance dogs to people with disabilities in order to increase independence and self-reliance. We teach students to train dogs to help people.
- The aim of AAII is to promote Animal Assisted Interventions and to act as a focus for all of those who work, or have an interest, in the field of Animal Assisted Interventions.
- If you are doing an internet search you want to use the terms “school facility dog” and “school therapy dog”.