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By Caden Fanshaw

Dog training

‘Best day of the year’: Therapy Dog Day celebrated at John McInnis

May 19, 2022 | 5:26 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – Who let the dogs out?

On Thursday community members did at the John McInnis Centre for Learning Alternatives as part of therapy dog training.

“I have a vested interest in it because Sherlock comes to work with me,” said Sue Macdonald, a counsellor at John Mcinnis. “I have seen the benefit of having him here, students often don’t acknowledge me, but they acknowledge the dog and they’ll talk to the dog.”

10 therapy dog teams arrived at the school in shifts, with some in the morning and others in the afternoon to socialize with students and participate in friendly competitions for prizes for the kids.

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Dogs from various parts of the community came out for the event including some who work at the University Hospital of Northern BC to others who work with kids at Foundry and Intersect Youth Services.

For the therapy dogs, the hours spent volunteering at the annual Therapy Dog Day will be added to their training criteria. For therapy dogs to level up in their certification they have to spend time volunteering in the community.

Students at the school said this is one of their favourite days of the year.

For students who struggle with socializing or have anxiety, therapy dogs are just one of many methods used to make the kids more comfortable.

This was the second annual therapy dog celebration held at the school, with hopes this will continue ‘fur’ever.