A Student’s Best Friend

By Jill Hall

Paying attention: Samantha Elliot (L) and Kaylin Adams huddle with Remy and Buddy for a reading session.

On Thursday mornings, you will find Maryann Beauchene spending time at Botelle School, not in her usual role as the school’s Media Specialist, but instead, with two special four-legged friends, Remy and Buddy. These loving standard poodles are not just her pets, they are Certified Reading Therapy Dogs. They spend one morning each week working with students in grades one through six, with children in the Shared Services programs, Bridges II as well as with students who are termed ‘medically fragile’ in the Individualized Education Plan (IEP) room.
Animal-assisted therapy is a rapidly developing field of alternative medicine, where the goal is for the dog to display unconditional affection and companionship, in order to raise the spirits of the participants, reduce their stress and promote their general well-being.
Champion Maple Corner Remington Steel RN CGC TDI, also known as Remy, is seven years old and his son, Remy’s Steely Dan RN CGC TDI, Buddy, is four years old.
Both dogs have received extensive training and certification by Therapy Dogs International, the organization that insures them while they perform their therapy work. In addition, they have received American Kennel Club (AKC) Rally Novice titles in obedience and have passed a 10 Step Canine Good Citizens Test. The poodles have also appeared at the annual meetings of both the Connecticut Association of School Librarians and the Connecticut Educational Media Association.
In 2004, Beauchene, Remy and Buddy started working with Beauchene’s parents in a nursing home setting. After her parents had passed away, rather than a return to working with the dogs at the nursing home, Beauchene focused her attention on bringing the dogs to the school, starting with Shared Services in the 2005-2006 school year, visiting teacher Rob Atkinson’s IEP classroom. The results were overwhelming and in 2008, ‘Reading to Remy & Buddy’ became a prize that students in each grade could earn in a reading challenge. Today, the Reading Dog Therapy program is a voluntary one, where students eagerly await their turn to read to the dogs under the direction of Beauchene. The students give the dogs a rave review. “They kind of actually listen, and if you miss a line they don’t tell you,” says one. Another agrees. “They are patient with me and it helps me learn how to read.”
Beauchene, a resident of Barkhamsted, hopes to see the dog therapy program become part of a student’s IEP. For her, the interaction between Remy, Buddy and the students is something to relish. It’s a win-win situation. “I love books, I love kids, and I love dogs,” she says. “The therapy program has allowed me to combine the best of all three worlds.” For more information visit her Web site at Pawsitiveanimaltherapy.com.

Photo By Katherine Griswold