Therapy dogs have been making appearances at the Elm Street and Medicine Hat Christian schools this year.
One of those dogs is four-year-old Murphy, a Red Golden Retriever.
Murphy’s full-time job as a therapy dog includes greeting students and putting minds at ease.
As a docile puppy, it was easy to see that Murphy would be a great for the mental health of others, said Candace Rapuano, a family liason worker and Murphy’s handler,
“As a puppy, he was so calm,” Rapuano said.
“We thought ‘is this how the puppy stage is supposed to be? He’s so calm,’ so we always knew he would be good for something like this,” she said.
“When I got this job, it was something I was interested in and thought that the kids would really enjoy it, so we went ahead with it.”
Students and teachers have benefitted from Murphy’s work.
Vaheidi Dixit, a student at Elm Street School, said that having Murphy around has made it easier to do things she otherwise student.
“How it helps is basically, well he’s a cuddly little friend and I just like having him around,”” Dixit said.
“When he comes to me, I get this excitement inside me and it just feels super good when he’s around,” she added.
Teacher Colleen Schauert said classroom morale improves drastically when Murphy is around.
“It’s very helpful, especially if we can frame it to the kids that they want to their best in front of Murphy,” Schauert said.
“They want to show him what it looks like to be a great student, a great listener and a great friend,” she said.
Rapuano said that Murphy loves being around students, but limits his time to two hours a day.
Towards the end of the day, he’s ready for a rest.
“I would like to say thank you to Murphy and Ms. Rapuano, his amazing owner for helping me out,” Dixit said.
“I love Murphy so much.”
