Canine companions a hit in schools

The question is, how many times a day does Winston, the Ozaukee Elementary School therapy dog, get petted by students and staff?

“One,” said Camden, a 4k student at the school, which can be taken to mean the only one that counts is the one she’s giving the 3-year-old golden retriever French poodle mix — a goldendoodle — at that moment.

The fact is Winston is petted hundreds, if not thousands, of times every day. Whenever he strolls through the hallway, nearly every student or staff member stops to give him a pat on the head or scratch his chin. 

Winston is one of two therapy dogs in the Northern Ozaukee School District, the other being Copper, who serves Ozaukee High School students.

District Supt. Dave Karrels said NOSD is one of the few if not the only district in the area that “employs” therapy dogs on a full-time basis and makes them available to all students.

Each of the dogs is paired with a handler — Winston with math teacher Carolyn Olson and Copper with social-studies teacher Chris Weavers. Both dog-human teams are certified by the Alliance of Therapy Dogs and underwent three months of training.

Winston was donated to the school three years ago by Fredonia resident Connie Winston and her family. He was one of 10 puppies from one litter.

Olson adopted Winston and is her family’s pet when he is off duty.

“I took on this angel. It was well worth it. I never looked back,” Olson said.

Winston is not assigned to any particular group of students but is available to all students, from 4K through 5th grade, Olson said. That means his duties are many.

“He helps those kids who are afraid of dogs to help them feel more comfortable,” she said.

Winston also helps with their reading and writing skills.

“They write letters to him, and he writes back,” Olson said, noting in front of her students with a wink that Winston uses a typewriter since he is incapable of holding a pen. “We hand out the letters and spend time reading them.”    

Winston spends a lot of time walking with kids. In fact, getting to walk with Winston or play fetch with him is used as an incentive to improve behavior or improvement in school work, Olson said.

There’s also a dog house where kids can spend time reading to Winston.

“Every single student who wants to can sit in the dog house and read to him,” Olson said. “It’s very cute; the kids get very excited when they see him.

The Parent Teacher Resource Group has even raffled time with Winston as a fundraiser.

Teachers and school staff are not immune to Winston’s gentle ways.

“He’s part of the staff. They see him all the time,” Olson said.

Copper, a cavalier King Charles spaniel, is a favorite of students in the high school. He even writes a column for the school’s online newspaper, the Warrior Weekly.

Weavers and Copper were certified in August to work with therapy dogs. Copper succeeds Colby Jack, another cavalier owned by Weavers, who died a year ago.

Copper has stricter duties, however, than Winston. 

“He’s here every day and works with our higher-needs kids who have a higher level of autism,” Weavers said. “Just having him is calming for the kids.”

Weavers said he walks Copper through the hallways at least twice a day.

When he does, there’s no question who the celebrity is as every hand seems to reach out and want to pet him.