By Mikayla van Loon
Students at Mount Evelyn’s Birmingham Primary School have been enjoying the company of a furry companion this year, with teachers seeing a big difference in mood and ability to learn.
Cooper, the black labrador therapy dog, is the much loved pet of Prep teacher Samantha Hanks who has always had an interest in the healing power of animals particularly for young people.
It wasn’t until she herself went through a traumatic experience with Cooper that she truly saw how soothing a dog’s presence can be.
“I got him in June, July of 2019 and then in December that year, we were stuck in the Mallacoota bushfires,” she said
“That experience made me see just how amazing he was, he was such a good support for me during that whole experience.”
Waiting 19 hours on the water while the fire tore through the town of Mallacoota, Miss Hanks and Cooper finally boarded a HMAS vessel three days later to start the 36 hour journey home.
“It was very traumatic but we made it and he was so amazing.”
Having already been training with Cooper at Coldstream’s Animal Aid for two years, Miss Hanks said when she decided to enrol him into therapy dog training with Lead the Way Institute, a lot of what they had already done was covered in the course.
“We didn’t have to do much more work with the new institute because he already knew all the knowledge from the previous two years and it was quite an easy transition over,” she said.
“Now, with Rhonda at Animal Aid, we still train with her once a month just for fun because we really love it there but then we train fortnightly through Lead the Way for consistency.”
Although Cooper did random days or sessions with students last year, this is his first official year working at the school, where he does three days a week.
“It just makes the students feel comfortable, makes them feel safe and it’s really helped. I’ve got a lot of kids with separation anxiety but Cooper has been such a big support,” Miss Hanks said.
“He offers a lot of emotional support. Like if kids need time out, they can go sit with him or they take him for a walk and just re-regulate themselves.”
Miss Hanks said research has proven therapy dogs lower stress levels and reduce anxiety among children.
This is because of the increase in the happy hormone, oxytocin, in the brain and this chemical reaction allows students to feel more relaxed, comfortable, safe and overall more ready to learn in the classroom environment, supporting their emotional and mental wellbeing.
Therapy dogs are trained to handle all environments, loud noises and being around various people, with regular training sessions to ensure their behaviour does not change in a heated situation.
“He’s very calm and that’s what the training does. It teaches them to be calm in any environment.”
While Cooper is set up in Miss Hanks’ classroom, she said some students from Grade 5 who have been refusing to come to school spend time with him, something that has made a huge difference in their desire to come to school.
“If kids are upset they just enjoy that time with him. They read books to him, they talk to him. He’s like a friend.
“He’s accessible to the whole school based on need. We’re hoping moving forward that we can incorporate him a little bit more throughout the whole school.
“There’s lots of research that says, spending 20 minutes with a therapy dog changes a child’s wellbeing so much. So hopefully we can start doing what they call ‘doggy dates’.”
