Therapy dogs go to school at College Community

CEDAR RAPIDS - About 840 fifth- and sixth-graders crowded through the main hallway of Prairie Creek Intermediate school as they headed to their classrooms.

As always, there was Addie: an 8-year-old yellow lab standing in the middle of the student traffic, tail wagging - intercepting students for ear scratches and belly rubs.

She flopped over on the green carpet, and a group of students crouched down to pet her blonde fur. She got up and wove through more students, getting quick pats on the head as she went.

'Addie! Hi, Addie!” students called and waved.

Addie's owner, guidance counselor Amber Urbain, stood in the hallway, smiling and shaking her head at the dog.

'Is it so exciting?” she asked as Addie padded over to her. 'You've got a hard job, don't you?”

Urbain is used to being overshadowed by her dog - the pair share an office at the College Community school. As a guidance counselor, Urbain teaches classroom lessons in social skills and problem-solving and works with students one-on-one and in small groups, with Addie by her side.

Having an animal present in those potentially emotional settings can be comforting, said John Wadsworth, an associate professor in the University of Iowa's Department of Rehabilitation and Counselor Education.

'It can be a comfort and might also be used to help a child cope with stressful situations,” he said. ' ... A dog always has non-judgmental acceptance.”

Addie, who's often mistaken for a puppy because of her high energy, is the reason many students feel comfortable going to Urbain's office. Urbain said students often mistakenly assume going to a guidance counselor's office is a punishment or only for troubled students.

'But everyone runs into problems,” Urbain said. 'Especially, I feel, in middle school.”

When a student gets upset in Urbain's office, Addie usually pushes her nose against the student or sits on his or her feet. As a certified therapy dog, she's trained to know when someone needs comforting. She also knows when to be playful.

'Just seeing her actually helps me calm down,” said Brandon Monson, 12.

Addie also is used as an incentive for good behavior, using time with Addie as a reward. Brandon said he often uses his Addie time to brush her teeth with chicken-flavored toothpaste.

'Every time I see her, she's really happy, like ‘No, don't leave, rub my tummy,'” Dylan Johnson, 12, said. 'Dogs always help me calm down. If I'm having a bad day, I go up to Addie and pet her and I calm down.”

Urbain and Addie are sometimes called to classrooms to help teachers who have upset students. Earlier this year, a sixth-grade girl was 'out-of-control crying,” Urbain said, and she was too upset to hear Urbain as she tried to calm her down.

Taken out of class and into the hallway, the student continued to cry and fell on her knees. Addie walked over and nudged her with her nose.

Addie licked the girl's face. She started giggling.

'You could see her come down from it,” Urbain said. 'She started taking deep breaths.”

Addie rolled over on her back, gunning for a tummy rub. The girl, who had been in tears just moments before, laughed and started playing with the dog.

'I can't imagine what it was like to do my job without her,” Urbain said. 'She's the one who's usually the most helpful in those situations. ... Kids go from crying and upset to giggling and laughing.”

Urbain has been a guidance counselor at Prairie Creek for the past four years, with Addie by her side for the past two. Almost every school in the College Community district has at least one full-time therapy dog. Counselors, teachers and administrators own therapy dogs that work in their buildings.

Most of those dogs came from CARES, Canine Assistance Rehabilitation Education and Services, in Concordia, Kan. Addie is the exception. Urbain adopted her as a puppy and put her through therapy training as an adult dog.

To earn their certification, therapy dogs must pass a public access test after going through extreme obedience training - which includes lying still as tennis balls roll past them and resisting a bowl of food after being left alone in a room.

The school's parent-teacher organization funded Addie's training, which Urbain said cost about $2,500.

A new dog from CARES would have cost about the same amount, Urbain said, but she knew Addie would make a good therapy dog. She's naturally friendly, and she's always been sensitive, she said.

Urbain and her husband have known that for years - Addie was supposed to be a hunting dog, but on a pheasant hunting trip refused to leave Bob Urbain's side.

Instead, Addie has opted for a pink 'Hello Kitty” collar and a College Community ID badge.

'She has a hard life here,” Amber Urbain joked as Addie nuzzled her knees and students went about their day.