{"id":12392,"date":"2020-01-24T03:15:55","date_gmt":"2020-01-24T03:15:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ohiopetexpert.com\/?p=12392"},"modified":"2020-01-24T03:15:55","modified_gmt":"2020-01-24T03:15:55","slug":"how-a-therapy-dog-is-changing-students-lives-at-lakewood-high-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ohiopetexpert.com\/index.php\/2020\/01\/24\/how-a-therapy-dog-is-changing-students-lives-at-lakewood-high-school\/","title":{"rendered":"How a therapy dog is changing students’ lives at Lakewood High School"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
Able, the school’s furry friend, is making a difference every single day<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
Author:\u00a0<\/span>Dorsena Drakeford<\/span><\/div>\n
Published:\u00a0<\/span>5:40 AM EST January 15, 2020<\/span><\/div>\n
Updated:\u00a0<\/span>5:40 AM EST January 15, 2020<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n

LAKEWOOD, Ohio \u2014 The stresses of life impact just about everyone, especially today\u2019s teenagers. Lakewood High School has a special way of helping students handle the emotional roller coaster life can bring.<\/p>\n

It comes in the form of a classmate, named Able, who very well may be the most popular \u2013 and furriest \u2013 “kid” to roam Lakewood\u2019s halls.<\/p>\n

Able is a therapy dog.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt first I was a little scared because I\u2019m not really a dog person,\u201d said student Alicia Dinya. \u201cWhen I found out, he wasn\u2019t that bad, I started liking him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Able\u2019s favorite spot to visit? No surprise: The lunch room.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe just roams the entire cafeteria sometimes looking for snacks, but usually pets,\u201d said teacher Julie May, who brings Able to school.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s a friend to all, and ready to lend an ear whenever needed.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s so sweet,\u201d said 11th grader Shantajah Davis. \u201cWhen you\u2019re upset or when someone\u2019s sad or something, he knows.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adopted by May in 2012, Able is not her first therapy dog. A pup named Madison was accepted by the Lakewood School Board to be a therapy dog in 2013. She held that honor until a brain tumor took the beloved dog\u2019s life in 2017. \u00a0A memorial tree grows on the high school campus, planted in Madison\u2019s honor.<\/p>\n

Able now carries on the mission started by Madison.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so grateful that every day I can share the gift of Able,\u201d May said. \u201cI think he\u2019s a very special dog. \u00a0I\u2019ve watched him befriend kids who are shy or scared, or if a kid\u2019s having a bad day, he gets up and goes to sit next to them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Studies have shown that therapy dogs not only help ease anxiety, and lower blood pressure, but their effects on students have shown to improve attendance and even raise test scores.<\/p>\n

For Shantajah, it\u2019s simple.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels really good to know that someone understands and feels how I feel,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

More schools are starting to realize the benefit of therapy dogs. Just this week the Streetsboro School Board approved a therapy dog for the district\u2019s middle school. Students there should start seeing a black Labrador retriever, named Piper, next school year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Able, the school’s furry friend, is making a difference every single day Author:\u00a0Dorsena Drakeford Published:\u00a05:40 AM EST January 15, 2020 Updated:\u00a05:40 AM EST January 15, 2020 LAKEWOOD, Ohio \u2014 The stresses of life impact just about everyone, especially today\u2019s teenagers. Lakewood High School has a special way of helping students handle the emotional roller coaster life can bring. It comes in the form of a classmate, named Able, who very well may be the most popular \u2013 and furriest \u2013 “kid” to roam Lakewood\u2019s halls. Able is a therapy dog. \u201cAt first I was a little scared because I\u2019m not really a dog person,\u201d said student Alicia Dinya. \u201cWhen I found out, he wasn\u2019t that bad, I started liking him.\u201d Able\u2019s favorite spot to visit? No surprise: The lunch room. \u201cHe just roams the entire cafeteria sometimes looking for snacks, but usually pets,\u201d said teacher Julie May, who brings Able to school. He\u2019s a friend to all, and ready to lend an ear whenever needed. \u201cHe\u2019s so sweet,\u201d said 11th grader Shantajah Davis. \u201cWhen you\u2019re upset or when someone\u2019s sad or something, he knows.\u201d Adopted by May in 2012, Able is not her first therapy dog. A pup named Madison […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12393,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1,17],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ohiopetexpert.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12392"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ohiopetexpert.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ohiopetexpert.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ohiopetexpert.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ohiopetexpert.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12392"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ohiopetexpert.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12392\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12394,"href":"https:\/\/ohiopetexpert.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12392\/revisions\/12394"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ohiopetexpert.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12393"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ohiopetexpert.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12392"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ohiopetexpert.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12392"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ohiopetexpert.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12392"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}