Word Group Therapy Dog In the news: 2020

HAMILTON NEWS

Therapy dog at Hamilton school proving to be a top teacher

15 Mar, 2019 by Tom Rowland

At 11 weeks old,/ Daisy joined the school two weeks ago/ to be trained/ as a therapy dog,/ and as students enter/ Te Ao Mārama primary school/ in Flagstaff each morning,/ they are greeted/ by a small furry/ spoodle Daisy, the latest member/ of the school's staff.

Deputy headmaster/ Anna Pratt — and Daisy's owner — said she became interested/ in the growing phenomenon/ of therapy dogs being used in schools around the world.

"It is really popular in America,/ and also in Australia," Ms Pratt said. "There were a lot of things we considered,/ such as the breed, the size, the type of coat/ — Daisy has a wool coat/ so she doesn't trigger any allergies./ She has been at school/ now for a couple of weeks,/ and she has been growing/ in confidence and the students/ have been getting more confident around her/ as well."

Daisy, who is a half poodle and half spaniel,/ is identified by the fluoro orange jacket/ that has been specially made for her,/ to show that she is a dog/ in training, and to also make her stand out/ when at school events./

Ms Pratt said that having a therapy dog/ as young as Daisy/ also helps with dog education,/ and the responsibility/ that comes with owning/ a dog.

"I was astounded/ as to how many kids/ here had never touched a dog/, or even seen a dog."

"So many kids come up/ saying I'm really scared of dogs,/ but I really want to pat her/ and now those kids are some of the ones/ who come up first to greet/ Daisy."

Daisy's routine/ includes heading to road patrol/ in the morning and roaming// through the learning areas of the school or teaching spaces./

"Children will read/ to her or draw pictures/ for her in class, and then after that she will eat/ and sleep/ for a bit."

"In research it shows that patting a dog/ releases the feel-good hormones/ and it just helps settles the kids,/ and they don't become distracted."/

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Task Description: Ms. Tapuke gave us this task to do, In the news, Therapy dog in the news reading task. We have to do the word groups for this task, adding slashes means word groups.