SIDNEY — The Shelby County Board of Developmental Disabilities has welcomed Woody the Therapy Dog to their growing staff. Woody is a Great Pyrenees mix that belongs to the Shelby Hills school nurse, Deb Graham. She will also be Woody’s handler while he is working as the facility therapy dog.

For the last several months, Graham and Woody trained together to prepare for Woody’s new job. They were fortunate to have help from a nonprofit organization called Anything is Pawsable Inc. based in St. Marys, Ohio. This organization makes trained service dogs and therapy dogs more accessible to those who would benefit. The Anything is Pawsable Inc. program runs at no cost to those receiving a dog and is funded through donations. In the past, they trained dogs to help families all over Ohio with various conditions, like PTSD, anxiety, muscular dystrophy, seizures, and more. They also trained pups, like Woody, to be facility dogs at places like Mercer County Juvenile Court, Coldwater Exempted Village Schools and Mercer County Educational Services.

As Woody’s handler, Graham created a task list for the SCBDD facility therapy dog to learn and perform while working.

• Meet and greet students at beginning of the day. The calm presence of a therapy dog can start the day on a positive note. Also, therapy dogs can get to know the children and staff through repeated scents.

• Accompany children at reading centers during play stations. Therapy dogs love to listen while kids read. It decreases the child’s anxiety, encourages creativity, and can comfort the dog.

• Practice de-escalation. Therapy dogs have been trained to help de-escalate students with heightened emotions. There will be boundaries and limits when entering an area with the therapy dog. The health and safety of all people and the therapy dog will be considered before allowing contact.

• Practice physical therapy, occupational therapy and assist with speech therapy. Therapy dogs can fetch and return a ball as students work on gross motor or speech skills. Student will be able to walk the therapy dog on a leash.

• Provide individual counseling with students and staff. Therapy dogs check in and out with students and staff, providing comfort when needed.

• Act as a transition companion for children who are having a difficult time with changing activities or spaces.

Woody already has an extensive list of duties in his job description. Plus, as he continues to learn more, his curriculum will continue to change and possibly expand.

So far, Woody has had limited visits to the county board preschool and office buildings, but he is already proving to be a wonderful asset to everyone. He attended Preschool Literacy Week with Nurse Deb as a guest reader. He also attended a recent all-staff quarterly meeting to announce his new role. Smiles happened all around while Woody received hugs and pets. He also put his training to the test, assisting with therapy and transitions for students.

The Shelby County Board of DD is grateful to the Anything is Pawsable program for all their work with Woody and Graham. For more information on their therapy and assistance dog training program or to donate to Anything is Pawsable Inc., visit https://anythingispawsable.org or find them on Facebook.