On Wednesday, January 18th, Concord students went to the gymnasium for a short period of time to interact with these precious animals brought to the school by the Jackson County Animal Shelter. Students benefit from dog therapy by disengaging from stressful situations and their studies. 

One of the seniors Lewis Fritz participated in dog therapy and really enjoyed it he explains, “The best part of dog therapy is that they can come and help people out, especially me because I’m injured at the moment, and it brings joy into my life. They also have a range of dogs that you can pet; the puppies are curious and the older dogs know what they are doing.” There were only a few small dogs, about five dogs in general of various ages. 

When compared to the previous year, this year’s dog therapy only lasted for an hour and thirty minutes, and there weren’t as many participants. Layla Hellard, participated in dog therapy last year and shares,  “This year is different from last because this year we had 8-month old puppies that I fell in love with, and I want to take them home.” Dog therapy was the best thing to happen to Hellard in her life, she says, adding, “I enjoyed all my time in an hour and a half because I ran this, and I fell in love with the puppies and I’ll be at the shelter this weekend.” All of the dogs that arrived are up for adoption and the puppies and the shelter would appreciate your assistance in helping them find new homes with wonderful owners. On the day they arrived, one of the eight-month-old puppies was adopted; there are still 17 puppies of the same breed (pit mix) available for adoption. If you are a puppy lover, dog therapy would have been perfect for you, and I bet the puppies would have loved it too.

Thank you to the shelter for bringing in the dogs and thank you to Mrs. Sigman, Madi Couburn and the senior volunteers for setting this up.

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