Central Catholic Welcomes Georgia, the Emotional Support Dog
Central Catholic High School’s psychology and sociology classes are working with a 1-year-old English bulldog named Georgia as she trains to become an emotional therapy dog.
Georgia was a stray from Atlanta, Georgia that was relocated to the Lenawee Humane Society in Adrian, Michigan. Unfortunately, Georgia had an infection from her time as a stray, and it was not treated until she arrived at the Humane Society The infection partially eroded the bones in her back legs, causing her to lose some use of her legs and to occasionally need a wagon or a “doggie wheelchair” for mobility.
Kristin McKinley, Central Catholic’s psychology and sociology teacher, has a background in animal and child psychology from the Ohio State University. She has also had experience training volunteers in small animal handling at the education departments of the Toledo Zoo and the San Antonio Zoo. She saw Georgia on the Lenawee Humane Society website and knew the dog would be a great fit as a personal pet and as an emotional therapy dog for her classes at Central Catholic.
Over the last few months, Georgia and Mrs. McKinley have completed emotional support dog training classes, and Georgia has just arrived at Central Catholic! The students will help further her therapy training and may visit other schools or hospitals with her. The dog resides predominantly in Mrs. McKinley’s classroom during the school day and goes home with her each evening.
The students at Central Catholic have welcomed Georgia with great excitement. They say that Georgia helps calm them down when they’re feeling stressed, and that just knowing she’s in the building brightens their day.
