Students train classroom therapy dog

Lake Forest Park

When Therese Russell and her self-contained special education class at Brookside Elementary lost their therapy dog, Abby, last October, the golden retriever was greatly missed.

They talked and talked about her gentle nature. The way she loved field day or how she never missed a school photo. How she would open up her own birthday presents and how she was able to calm students down after a difficult recess. Still, they were sad.

That’s when Russell started thinking about getting a puppy for her class and the school. Soon after, 3-month-old golden retriever Brooke Piper Russell made her debut.

“The kids kept asking me, ‘Is the puppy here yet?’” Russell said. “I told them I would put a balloon outside of the classroom when she arrived.”

The pink ‘It’s a girl’ balloon announced Brooke’s arrival in March. Today, she needs little introduction.

Students from other classrooms earn “puppy passes” and visit frequently, Russell said. They write about Brooke’s tendency to chew on just about everything in a puppy journal kept in the classroom.

But the latest addition to her classroom still has some big paws to fill, according to Russell and her students are poised to help train their new classmate to be the type of therapy dog Abby once was.

“The biggest thing is this group gets to train the new (dog),” she said. “The idea is that these kids would have ownership and start anew so that in two to three years the kids in the program will have a dog like Abby.”

Her students are working with trainer Gayle Ballinger, owner of Pawsitive Steps Dog Training, to teach the puppy basic manners and obedience, Russell said. At a year old, Brooke will begin her training for her official animal assistant therapy license.

Funding for Brooke’s future training will be necessary, according to Russell ,but so far she has received monetary donations from the PTA and Heather McIntosh Fund, an educational grant from Boeing Employees Credit Union, and a donation from a community member.

Brooke’s training is something LJ McIntosh will “keep an eye on” and deserves to receive support from a fund set up in his daughter’s name, he said. The Heather Fund began after Heather McIntosh, a sixth-grader at Brookside, passed away in December 2002. The fund has since supported students and has helped pay for playground equipment, library books, instruments, backpacks and school supplies. Brooke is the latest worthy cause.

“When it came up about Brooke and it was understood how important that dog was for the development of the students, it was a very easy decision,” McIntosh said. “I don’t think we thought about it for a second. That’s exactly what the fund is for.”