New therapy dog helps students settle into the semester in the D.C. area
During the first week of classes at the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus Academic Building One in Alexandria, students received a visit from a guest who elicited smiles, hugs, nose boops, and laughs.
Allen, a golden retriever and therapy dog, joined the welcome activities with his owner Noelle Myers and co-handler Associate Professor Barbara Hoopes. Allen wagged his tail and licked hands that reached out to pet him.
Hoopes is the associate dean of the Graduate School for the greater Washington, D.C., metro area, and is based at Academic Building One. She is also a long-time puppy raiser for the Canine Companions service dog organization.
Raising puppies for service
After Hoopes' family dog died in 2009, her then-11-year-old daughter suggested the family raise puppies to become service dogs. Hoopes and her daughter looked into several organizations that provided service dogs and chose Canine Companions because of their reputation, including the fact that they do not charge recipients for the dogs.
They got their first dog in 2010. Puppies destined for service training are named by the organization, and their first dog was KC. It was the same year Hoopes was diagnosed with cancer, and the family almost put off raising their first service dog, but they decided to move forward. When he was 18 months old, KC moved on to professional training with the organization, but he did not last. Not every dog raised for service meets the standards and requirements, and KC was a bit too distractable for service. So the family adopted him back. He served as a big brother to the five dogs they have raised since.
Of the six dogs they have raised — KC, Frisbee, Kipling, Tender, Bayley, and Allen — three have been placed as companion or facility dogs. Puppy No. 6, Allen, got a different path.
A job for Allen
Hoopes co-raised Allen, officially Allen IV, with Myers. When Allen was 18 months old they delivered him to the Canine Companions Northeast Region Training Center in Medford, New York, for his professional training.
The professional training phase of the process known as Puppy College because the dogs live on-site with a “roommate” and go to classes every day. Over the course of six to nine months, the trainers learn the dogs’ strengths and weaknesses so they can match the dogs with their ultimate career: service dogs, veterans’ dogs, or facility dogs. Allen progressed all the way through Puppy College, but developed a physical issue in his final semester that concerned the organization, so he was released from the program. Myers adopted him back.
“We quickly realized that Allen needed a job,” Hoopes said. With the recommendation of the professional trainers, Myers decided to get Allen certified as a therapy dog through Canine Companions training program, which is recognized by the American Kennel Club. Therapy dog handlers also must go through a multi-faceted training program, and they are certified with a specific dog as a team.
“The dogs know everything they need to know from their professional training,” said Hoopes. “It’s really the human handlers that need the training.”
The benefits of a therapy dog
As Myers went through the training process with Allen, Hoopes reflected on her roles at the university. “I started thinking about having a dog here,” she said. “It seemed like the students at Virginia Tech in the D.C. area could benefit from having a therapy dog around, since being a graduate student can be stressful.” Hoopes went through the therapy dog training and certification process, and got authorization to bring Allen to Virginia Tech events in the D.C. area.
Trent Davis, coordinator for Cook Counseling Center’s animal assisted therapy program in Blacksburg, said Hoopes is right about the importance of therapy dogs. "The VT therapy dogs provide warm, fuzzy, and friendly support for the entire campus community through their unconditional love and desire to connect with people,” Davis said. “Therapy dogs make people happy and connect them with others; and when people are connected and happy, good things happen.”
Unlike a service dog, Allen, now 2 years old, is not on the job all the time. Ultimately, he’s a pet with training. According to the Canine Companions website, “A therapy dog is a pet that accompanies their owner into specific settings for the benefit of residents or clients in that setting.”
That’s one distinction between service dogs and therapy dogs, Hoopes said. Therapy dogs are limited to a certain number of working hours each day and don’t have the general public access that service dogs do. Hoopes plans to take Allen to Academic Building One a couple of times each month to bring joy and comfort to the students and employees there.
Making the university feel more like home
Watching some students gather around Allen at a recent event aimed at helping students settle into the new semester and the new building, she observed that some seemed to miss dogs they had at home and others had never spent time with a dog. Davis said Blacksburg students who interact with Cook Counseling Center’s dogs also say they miss their pets a lot and spending time with the dogs helps fill the void for them. Rami Steinruck, a licensed clinical psychologist with the counseling center, also is a therapy dog handler in Blacksburg and agreed with Hoopes and Davis regarding the importance of the contact with students.
“Dogs have a way of reminding us of our humanity. They remind us to find joy in one another, play, relax, rest, and connect,” Steinruck said. “The university setting is a big unknown for many students, and the dogs help it feel like home.”
Allen did a fine job connecting, leaning in for petting, sprawling on his side so more students could touch him, and occasionally offering dog kisses. He wagged his tail frequently and showed off some of his skills, receiving treats from Myers or Hoopes as he did so. After the event, he sat with Hoopes, tail still wagging. “Clearly, he loves his job,” said Hoopes with a smile.
