Facility dogs put paws to work

Hall-Kent’s most popular employee is undoubtedly its new four-legged one.

Maize, a young retriever mix, is a school facility service dog that arrived on the campus of Hall-Kent Elementary in November. Starting in January, Maize began working her full-time job, spending her days with a schedule of classrooms and individuals to visit, providing support and comfort.

“She has such a positive effect just immediately. We greet the students in the morning and walk to the cafeteria and the gym. They just love her, and so do parents,” Hall-Kent Principal Kiana Coleman said.

Maize is one of two facility service dogs provided through Service Dogs Alabama, a training program based in Hope Hull, Homewood City Schools Director of Guidance Leigh Cohen Long said. The second is Russell, a black lab that was given to Shades Cahaba Elementary Principal John Lowry in January.

Service Dogs Alabama trains canines from puppyhood for a variety of purposes, such as medical alerts, wheelchair assistance, autism support, post-traumatic stress disorder and emotional support for children and adults, including military veterans.

Long said one of the organization’s programs is K-9s 4 Schools, which matches dogs of the right temperament with schools around the state. According to the Service Dogs Alabama website, the dogs can work in classrooms and one-on-one to reduce stress or anxiety, as well as participate in activities that promote positive behaviors and inclusion of all students.

They are different from traditional service dogs, which serve a single handler with a disability and do not work in group settings.

The program started with a pilot project in Elmore County in the 2015-16 school year.

“[I] thought that it sounded very beneficial to help students academically, socially, behaviorally, and brought it back and talked to the superintendent about it,” Long said.

Plus, there’s the added benefit of seeing kids’ happy faces when Maize or Russell walks in the room. The dogs will spend time daily in classrooms off-leash, as well as guidance sessions and walking the halls with their handlers.

“It’s a working dog for all students, not like a one-to-one service dog,” Long said.

Hall-Kent and Shades Cahaba applied to have a school service dog in early 2018, but the waiting period for an appropriate dog to become available can be months or years. 

As part of receiving the dogs, Coleman, Lowry and anyone else who will handle them had to go through a training program, Follow the Lead, which included handling, commands and ways to use the dog to influence student behavior. 

Coleman said Maize knows around 50 commands, including to lay down for kids to pet her, close doors and pick up her leash.

Coleman and Lowry also had to agree to be caretakers and permanent homes. At the end of the day, Maize and Russell’s vests comes off and they become a normal, playful pet. When the vest goes on in the morning, though, Coleman said she can immediately see Maize’s demeanor shift to calm and — mostly — attentive. She said she’s still working on teaching Maize not to lick people quite so much.

“She’s super social,” Coleman said.

Long said the school system is also grateful to Dr. Mike Kilgore at Homewood Animal Hospital, who has offered to cover the cost of regular veterinary care. Maize and Russell’s work is just getting started, but Long is hoping to see them be “really impactful to the overall school climate” at both schools.

Learn more about the K-9s 4 Schools program at servicedogsalabama.com/schools.html.