Helping hounds lift student health, but experts warn regulation is lacking
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St Helena Secondary College principal Karen Terry’s office may be covered in dog hair, but she thinks it’s a small price to pay for the difference pups Frankie and Ash – named after Aretha Franklin and Ash Barty – have made to the school community.
Even the school newsletter is written in their voices.
St Helena Secondary College students Matilda Walpole and Liam Young with wellbeing dogs Frankie and Ash.Credit: Joe Armao
Once rare in schools, therapy or wellbeing dogs are now a common sight. St Helena uses government-approved provider Dogs Connect to create plans and accredits teachers to handle the animals.
But at some other schools, staff are bringing in their own pets without training, a plan or accreditation – and experts are warning more regulation is needed.
Dr Brad Rundle, founder and head trainer at Therapy Animals Australia, which runs PAWS in Schools, said the positive impacts of properly trained dogs and staff in schools could be enormous, but the space was fairly unregulated.
“Therapy dogs are recognised, but when you get into wellbeing dogs and emotional support dogs – they are terms coming out of America that really … don’t have any sort of legal standing in Australia at all,” he said.
The use of therapy or wellbeing dogs in schools has surged since Victoria’s $200 million Mental Health Fund for schools began rolling out in 2022 with five animal-related programs including wellbeing dogs.
Rundle, a former zoologist and teacher, said he had seen about a 35 per cent increase in business as schools increasingly look to tackle mental health.
PAWS’ program, which costs up to $19,734 for the first year and includes one therapy dog and training for three school staff, ensures its animals meet Service Animals Australia’s standards.
Canine Comprehension founder Sarah Macdonald said her service did monitoring and evaluation and had created academic learning programs for schools to use with its dogs.
“I worry sometimes when principals and school teachers will bring in their own dogs and call them therapy dogs in schools. It’s very dangerous, but also these people are very, very busy,” she said. “And so then they’re having trouble trying to manage a therapy dog and their own workload.”
St Helena’s students are given briefings before spending time with the dogs.Credit: Joe Armao
Macdonald said programs such as hers, which is on Victoria’s Mental Health Menu, underwent rigorous standards tests, but there should be more strong risk analysis and safety measures when it came to bringing in pets.
In August, a six-year-old was bitten on his face by a NSW South Coast primary school support dog that had been at the school since 2019 providing students with companionship and emotional support. The boy’s mother told the ABC she wanted all school support dogs to be fully qualified.
Macdonald said her service had gone from 10 to 50 schools with various programs in the past 10 years, across kindergarten to year 12.
She said children’s mental health had deteriorated in the past 10 to 15 years and that was affecting learning, relationships and connectivity in the classroom. “Schools are needing to look at more innovative ways because what they were doing before isn’t working,” she said.
She has noted strong results, including school refusers coming in and students with selective mutism feeling comfortable enough to speak.
“They’ll start speaking to the dog and start giving words to the mentor, and you see teachers or parents who are watching our session just sobbing,” Macdonald said.
A Department of Education spokesperson said Victoria had made the biggest investment in school-based mental health support in Australian history. Therapy animals were one of many evidence-based programs that schools could choose from as part of the Mental Health Fund, a key recommendation of the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System.
At St Helena, the COVID-19 lockdowns and difficulties students experienced returning to school were the impetus for Terry to consider school dogs.
She wanted to create a calm environment and bring back a sense of community.
Dogs Connect founder Grant Shannon said when done properly, dogs at schools could create a reason for children to attend.
“The idea of connection … giving them something to want to come to school for, but then coupling it with learning to understand another being that doesn’t speak our language and communicate … that became a really strong link directly to social emotional curriculum in Victoria,” he said.
Shannon said the impacts were “undeniable”.
At St Helena, students can book in for “pats and chats” and the dogs get rest days. Students are given briefings before spending time with the dogs and the dogs’ wellbeing is constantly monitored. Teachers with accreditation can take the dogs into classrooms. And amid workforce shortages, the animals have helped staff wellbeing and eased student stress in the lead-up to VCE exams.
“The kids are allowed to go in regulated numbers into our dedicated space where they can interact with the dogs,” she said.
Terry said some kids were finding school tough, and Frankie and Ash were there to help.“I wouldn’t keep doing it if I didn’t think it was making a difference.”
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