Following a recent decision made by the head principal Andrew Neely, history teacher John Saboe was allowed to bring his licensed therapy dog, McKinley, into school for a “trial run” day. If the trial is deemed successful, therapy dogs may be allowed in classrooms throughout the day in the future. On Dec. 12, three Mountain Echo reporters followed McKinley around to see what a day in the life of a therapy dog really looks like.

7:15 a.m. 

McKinley began her day bright and early by greeting students as they went through security checks. Students had the opportunity to say hello and pet her.

“I love dogs, and McKinley is a Bernese Mountain dog, which is the best kind of dog. I really enjoyed seeing her in the morning. My morning was so much better when I saw a dog in the school building,” junior Eli Rosenberry said. 

Other students like junior Avery Reimer agree with Rosenberry that having McKinley in the school was a good experience.

“It makes my day. You don’t expect a dog to be in the school, so it’s just such a pleasant surprise,” Reimer said. 

She stayed at security checks until about 7:50 a.m., before heading over to Principal Neely’s office to attend a department head meeting.

8:00 a.m.

Along with the rest of the department chair heads, Saboe, head of the history department, and McKinley joined a department chair head meeting in Neely’s office. 

“There was a sense of peacefulness having the dog in the meeting. McKinley looking around and making eye contact with us during the meeting felt good,” business chair head Jesse Frailey said. 

Even though McKinley can only bark and can’t make budget decisions, she added a sense of positivity to the meeting. 

“I thought it was great having McKinley there in our meeting. I felt the people gravitated towards her; it was a great thing for all of us,” instructional coach Mike Baker said.

8:42 a.m. 

McKinley settled into Saboe’s classroom, where she resided there for most of the day. Throughout the day, Saboe taught academic World History and Global Affairs during periods 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7.

“I felt like McKinley allowed me to pay more attention in class. School can get a little repetitive and boring but having a dog in the classroom with us is a nice refresher,” junior Nick Boslet said. 

As Saboe expected, McKinley wandered the room and allowed students to pet her during class. Students were visibly happier during their lessons when they had the chance to see the dog. 

“She makes me very happy, and she makes me excited to come to class. I think the dogs being allowed in class is a good way to de-stress from school. I notice that everybody else is just happier when McKinley is around,” junior Brandon Lyle said. 

10:16 a.m. 

Saboe’s fourth period began Global Affairs class by watching a video on current events while McKinely sat patiently with a student, being petted. 

“My favorite thing about therapy dogs is how easy they are to pet and you can love up on them a lot. I love how they just lay there calmly and let them pet you,” freshman Harris Field said. 

11:03 a.m. 

Saboe took McKinley outside to get fresh air and go to the bathroom during his lunch break. 

“McKinley has taken to the kids very well. She was super excited to get into school and see all the kids,” Saboe said. “This morning she really wanted to be petted. Once students found out that she was not a service dog, but a therapy dog, they were all about it.” 

After a small break outside, they both returned inside to continue their days. 

11:33 a.m. 

Saboe returned from his lunch break and resumed teaching with an academic World History class. 

“McKinley has no issues at all; she’s the best part of my day,” senior Tanner Yoder said.

He lectured for about half of the period, then let students work independently on their computers. Students were able to interact with McKinley as they worked on their assignment. 

12:23 p.m. 

McKinley stayed close to juniors Mia Curfman and Peyton Focht for the majority of sixth period. She snuggled up under their desks. 

“Having McKinley in the room really just lifted the mood, I think that just seeing McKinley could make someone’s bad day better, ” Curfman said.

McKinley enjoyed sitting beside students’ desks while Saboe taught. She began to get tired by the afternoon classes, rolling on her side and letting students rub her belly. 

McKinley has gone through special training courses, including the American Kennel Club Good Citizen training. The AKC Good Citizen training is a 10 step course to teach dogs good manners and their owners how to be responsible. She also had to complete Alliance of Therapy Dogs training to be allowed in the classroom. Alliance of Therapy Dogs is a program that provides testing, certification, registration, support and insurance; all necessary to enroll a dog as a therapy dog. These training certificates allow her to work as a therapy dog and remain calm in a often crazy and hectic school building. 

”I don’t see how you couldn’t like having a dog in the room; when McKinley walks over to me, I can’t help but feel happy, “ junior Mark Harrington said. 

Harrington listened to Saboe’s lecture on Ancient Rome while he petted McKinley. He then did his independent work while McKinley wandered around the room, between students. 

1:10 p.m. 

McKinley took a trip down the hall from her home of B315 and visited Laura Brubaker’s class. Brubaker’s students were excited to get the opportunity to see McKinley even if they aren’t in Saboe’s class. 

“Even though I am not in Mr. Saboe’s class, it was really nice and calming to be able to have a visit from McKinley in class,” freshman Elizabeth Swope said.

McKinley loved seeing students from other classes and behaved well for the students in Brubaker’s class. Brubaker allowed two of her freshman students to walk McKinley back to Saboe’s room. 

After McKinley returned to Saboe’s room, she sat in on the second Global Affairs class of the day. For most of the period, she laid next to one of the students and took a nap, after a long day of getting petted and loved on. 

Spending the day with McKinley provided us with a sneak peek into what the future of the therapy dog program holds for students, staff and the dogs themselves.

All four reporters who worked on this story agreed that our moods were brightened throughout the day and getting to spend almost a full day with McKinley made us feel a lot better overall.