CINCINNATI — There’s a new furry staff member at Sands Montessori.
Dug is a 2-year-old yellow Labrador retriever who is the first facility dog in Cincinnati Public School’s history.
"The change has been phenomenal," said intervention specialist Tom Pilutik. "We have students who are anxious about just coming into the building, and Dug is helping bridge the gap, making students more comfortable to be in the building and also to be really excited to be here."
CPS partnered with Circle Tail, a local nonprofit that places service-oriented dogs in different communities, to bring Dug to Sands. He's part of a pilot program, so there is no guarantee he will be at the school next year.
"Absolutely I hope this expands," said Pilutik. "I think what we’re doing here at Sands needs to be copied at every school in the district."
Fifth grader SaKari Beya agrees.
"I just feel like every school should have a facility dog," Beya said. "It’s really helpful to the kids who do see Dug — and like some of my friends have wanted to see Mrs. Nicole, but were a little too afraid and now they want to see Mrs. Nicole even more because Dug is there."
Beya said her teachers even noticed a change in her this school year.
"Last year, I was just like really messy with my work and didn’t organize it very well, and this year I’ve been doing really good on organizing my work, and I feel like that has something to do with Dug because of his calm presence and how he just relaxes you and gets you in the minds to go back to school and go back to work and really focus," she said.
She said that Dug's calming presence relieves her stress even when you don’t get to pet him.
"It makes the students and school — like even me — so happy. When we’re passing the halls, we see Dug — not even near us, we just see him — and we’re all like so happy for the rest of the day," she said.
Kindergartener Oakland Trumble loves it when Dug comes to visit her classroom.
"He listens and he’s a good dog, a really good dog, and I’m happy he’s at our school," Trumble said. "Whenever sometimes people be mean to me, he reminds me that he likes me."
Trumble said Dug is a "good boy" who always makes her happy.
Dug works an eight-hour shift and has three different handlers. He visits classrooms and works one-on-one with students who need additional help.
Pilutik said that while Dug can’t solve every student’s problems, he certainly helps them calm down.
"One of the struggles that so many students have is with anxiety. I think that’s one of the main things we see, and so to have that calming presence is going to just at least get them through that day," Pilutik.
He said dogs give unconditional love, and that love is why students are able to open up and relax.
"If I do have students who are struggling to kind of open up and feel more relaxed and trusting with me, Dug can kind of help bridge that gap a little bit," he said.
Pilutik said he thinks facility dogs should be in every CPS school. He believes they could help with attendance and enrollment.
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