Photo by Erin Nelson.
Percy Prann, 7, center, reads the book “No, David” to other students and Foxie, a 3-year-old Labrador and the facility service dog at Edgewood Elementary School in Homewood.
When Hall Kent Elementary School received Maize, and Shades Cahaba Elementary School followed up with two more furry friends named Russell and Delta, Edgewood Elementary School wanted to be next.
Two years ago, the school applied for a facility dog, but because of the COVID-19 pandemic it were unable to receive one.
On May 10, its wish was finally granted when 3-year-old yellow lab Foxie joined the school staff as a trained school facility dog from Service Dogs Alabama. Fran Woodruff, Edgewood Elementary School librarian, is her main handler, and Principal Laura Tate is her co-handler.
“When we met her in May, it truly was love at first sight,” Woodruff said. “It was just really overwhelming and incredible, especially since we had waited two years to get her.”
The Service Dogs Alabama program starts training dogs at 11 days old. The training is very generic until they better understand what the dogs’ specialties will be and can narrow it down.
Woodruff and Tate spent four days training with Foxie in Hope Hull after getting permission to receive her. They learned basic commands for her like sit, stay, off, come and down, and they spent two days working with her in a real school setting at Montgomery Academy.
Foxie works best with children and large groups of people, which is why she became a facility dog. She is trained to identify by hormone levels children who are stressed, upset, sad, anxious or experiencing any negative emotion and sit with them for comfort.
Studies show that having a calm, steady dog nearby to pet eases those negative feelings, Woodruff said.
“She has already demonstrated this at the end of the past school year. A kid would be upset and crying and frustrated, and then the moment they see her when they come into the room, it just flips a switch … they get real comfort from her.”
When the students ask Woodruff what Foxie’s job is, she says Foxie is around to let them love on her. Some students will be timid around her, but once they see how calm she is they are more willing to go over and pet her, Woodruff said.
However, when the vest comes off and Foxie is sitting at home with Woodruff, she is just like any other regular dog.
“It is almost like two dogs,” Woodruff said. “When she has the vest on, she is very chill ... but at home when the vest comes off, she wants to chase squirrels and cats, she likes to sleep on the couch, she knows when it’s 6 [p.m.] and she starts going, ‘Hey, it’s getting close to dinner time isn’t it?’”
Because she is the librarian, and every student goes to the library, it makes sense for Woodruff to be Foxie’s handler. The goal is to have teachers “check-out” Foxie from the library and bring her to their classroom for quality time with the students.
Woodruff hopes Foxie’ presence will continue to help the children feel the comfort and joy she sees on their faces whenever the dog enters the room.
“I really stress that this is their dog. She belongs to the kids of Edgewood.”
