Therapy Dogs

These dogs will be essential to giving children a friend and a safe place to come to everyday. Therapy dogs create a safe, comfortable, happy, and judgmental free classroom environment. These dogs also have the power to improve student’s reading levels and overall attendance. Many studies have been done to analyze how children’s reading abilities improve with the use of therapy dogs. Changes in attitudes toward reading, reading skill levels, schoolwork, attitudes toward homework, attendance, and changes in self-esteem or self-confidence can be seen just by involving a dog in the classroom.

The dogs are not personal pets. The dogs are owned and managed by Bloomfield Hills Schools. The dogs and services are funded through community donations. The dogs live with a host family when they are not on duty in school.

A dog ‘retires’ when they begin to slow down or begin to experience health issues. Dogs generally work an average of 10 years.

Local businesses donate these services in trade for them being recognized on the dog therapy vest and by the district as a whole.

While dog allergies are not life threatening, the school staff will ensure that no contact will be made with the person who suffers from allergies.

An effort will be made to help the student and/or staff member to overcome their fears in a time sensitive and empathetic manner. The dog will be kept away from the student/staff until it is mutually agreed upon.

We completely understand. We will never make a child do something that makes them uncomfortable. It will be important that families reach out to their child's teacher and principal with any concerns that they may have about their child with the dog so that we can work with families on a case-by-case basis. 

No, the dog is not allowed to eat snacks/treats at school because this will cause him/her to have weight issues and interfere with him/her following learned directives

Yes, the dog trainers will be providing training to the daily dog handlers. 

There is an application process for a staff member to be considered the host home/family for the dog. All applications are processed through the building administrators. The trainers also look at all the host applications and decide which home is best, using the information provided, phone interviews and possible home visit (at their discretion). The trainer recommends a host home to the principal who will then make a final decision.

We are very particular what trainer we use. The trainers pick the breeder and attempt to ensure the good health and dog temperaments, which are crucial. Our trainer works closely with the breeders on deciding what pup is best for what school. The pups will leave the breeder around 12 weeks and go to training until about 14-16 months of age. Our trainers will make sure that the dog is in tip-top shape and ready to join the school environment. Our dogs cannot do any special tricks, it’s the training and temperament that is special.

As we work towards our new Special Education Design, we tried to correlate with where students may have higher and more complex needs. Since both West Hills and Lone Pine will have our first level 4 programs in the district, we are starting in those buildings.