Ms. Eischen’s first dog passed away in October 2019. In December 2019, Ms. Eischen took a new job at ISP and was moving to Prague. So without a dog and time to kill, she started to foster dogs with One Tail At a Time, an animal rescue organization in Chicago, Illinois. After two short stints fostering dogs she was convinced she wasn’t going to love another dog again like her first dog. Then one early morning in January 2020 she was scrolling through the foster facebook group and saw a picture of Sundae at the Chicago pound. That night Sunday night, Sundae was freed from the pound, took on her freedom ride to her new foster home with Ms. Eischen. Sundae was let out of the car and walked into the home, and made herself at home. Sundae needed some health care and to be spaded, so Ms. Eischen took her job as Foster seriously over the next month and a bond was formed.

Everyone told her not to keep her, it was crazy to take a dog during the move to Prague. During a huge transition, adding a big responsibility. However, Ms. Eischen didn’t listen and adopted Sundae. And then…..the pandemic hit. During the pandemic lots of in-home training occurred. YouTube videos, online training and facebook groups to train Sundae. If Sundae was moving to Prague, she needed to be “well-behaved”! As training progressed and things started to reopen, Sundae took lessons at Urban Pooch and passed level one of Comfort Dog training. When we return this summer we will continue our training with Rainbow Animal Assisted Therapy.

Sundae loves to come to ISP, enjoys saying hello to students and staff of all ages. She has visited elementary classrooms to teach animal greetings, comforted students with anxiety, and participated in counseling sessions with the counselors.

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Builds confidence in students

Meanwhile opening up to other peers or teachers can be hard to a student, having a comfort dog next to them can create a comfortable and safe environment that can reduce their stress levels. Having a comfort dog next to the students can also encourage them in classes where they have to speak up in front of their classmates.

Improves school morale

Comfort dogs can make students feel more excited and put them in a better mood for the day ahead. Having a fluffy friend in your class or hallways can make going to school more enjoyable and tolerable.

Improves mental health

According to National Institute of Health, 1 in 3 teenagers (13-18) experience anxiety disorder. Having a comfort dog in school can uplift the mood in classes and can provoke laughter.

Coping

They can also help to cope with grief and other tragedies that has happened to students. Petting dogs can give people a relief from sadness and bring joy to the otherwise sad and often seemingly impossible days

Interaction

A comfort dog can improve the way that students interact with each other and their teachers. These improvments can also develop further in some students home environments

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Angie April 23, 2015, 9:12 PM

Love hats!!