COODANUP College is helping to teach assistance dogs to avoid distractions while giving the students confidence at the same time.
Create a free account to read this article
or signup to continue reading
The college currently has one assistance dog, Charlie, who is being looked after by the school's primary partnerships coordinator Jodie Toy.
Four other puppies visited the school on February 19 for a meeting with the owners and carers.
It was a chance to teach the dogs how to interact with the students.
Ms Toy said the students wrote reflective pieces on the dogs, which had given them confidence around animals.
Assistance dogs are trained by a volunteer before they move over to the national centre in Sydney.
Then the dogs are assigned to someone with a physical disability.
Assistance Dogs Australia’s breeder relations and instructor support trainer Helen Stathy said the children can help the dogs learn to avoid all distractions and make sure they look after the person they are assigned to.
“All young dogs want to do is play with kids, she said.
“But we want to train these dogs to avoid distractions so they can look after the person who needs help.”
For more information on volunteering to train an assistance dog or learn about the program, call Assistance Dogs Australia on 1800 688 364
