Kaiti and Benelli at Lewis & Clark

Two new faces were recently introduced to students and staff at Lewis & Clark Elementary when Kaiti King and her therapy dog, Benelli, joined the Explorer’s team.
As part of Kaiti’s final rotation through her doctorate of occupational therapy degree at Creighton University in Omaha, NE, Kaiti completed 6 weeks of volunteer service with Ellen Dosen, School Psychologist, who served as Kaiti’s site supervisor.
What is a therapy dog?

A therapy dog is not a service animal. Therapy dogs are certified as a team including the handler and the dog. Kaiti and Benelli are certified through Pet Partners, one of the largest certifying organizations in the United States. As a team they are trained to provide comfort and affection as well as provide opportunities for motivational and educational benefits to enhance quality of life. Pet Partners requires rigorous testing in order to ensure preparedness and reliability of obedience.

Why a therapy dog program?
Extensive research has been done regarding the effects of a therapy animal.  Researchers have identified many benefits including:

•  Physical - Animals interaction reduces blood pressure, provides sensory stimulation, assists with pain management and is a great motivator to move.
• Social - Animals provide a positive mutual topic for discussion, promote greater self-esteem.
• Cognitive - Companionship with an animal stimulates memory, problem solving and executive functioning skills.
•  Emotional - Animals improve self-esteem, decrease problematic behaviors and decrease aggression.
• Environmental - Research has found children report an increase in interest to attend school as well as positive emotions related to learning and the classroom environment when the presence of an animal is anticipated.

What are the goals of the therapy dog program at school?
During their stay at Lewis & Clark Elementary, Kaiti and Benelli’s daily presence helped reduce stress and anxiety in social settings as well as during difficult classroom activities; lessened the emotional trauma of critical incidents/events for students, teachers and staff; and served as motivation/reward for desired on-task behaviors during classroom activities. As a result, significant benefits were observed throughout the building as desired behaviors increased and negative behaviors decreased.

Students and staff were sad to see Kaiti & Benelli’s stay come to an end but are hopeful they will be back to visit sometime soon!