On March 5, MSHS held the annual Mustang Strong Day, an event focused on students’ well-being where they are given the opportunity to take classes specific to their interests. One of the classes accessible to students every year is the therapy dogs class, a class where students learn about and spend time around therapy dogs.
Every year staff choose to lead whatever session they want. MSHS’s counselors, Christopher Lewis and Alisha Strupp, wanted to do something within the topic of mental health. “Sometimes people talking at you about mental health can be pretty dull,” Strupp said, “So we thought bringing animals in would be a great segue into having conversations with kids because therapy dogs are fairly new in the last couple of decades.”
The dogs seen in the therapy dog classes throughout the years come from the organization called Healing Hounds, which is based out in Conifer, Colorado. “We had reached out to several organizations the first year, and Healing Hounds was the first and the easiest to get a hold of,” Strupp said. “They know that our kids are good kids, everybody here is really respectful, and they are always willing to come back.”
The organization visited for the third time this year, and their presentations taught students how therapy dogs are trained and where they work. “It’s a really good opportunity for students to understand the training that goes into a therapy dog and their passion that they have for their organization,” Strupp said, “because therapy and counseling can look a variety of different ways, and sometimes, having the dog there can just open up so much for a person.”
Miranda Harangozo (11) feels that she would not change anything about the class opportunity, and that she enjoyed learning more about therapy dogs and what their jobs are. “My favorite aspect of the class was getting to know the dogs a little bit and learning how they are different from emotional support animals and service animals,” Harangozo said.
The preparation needed for the class included contacting and scheduling times with the organization, finding and securing a classroom to have therapy dogs, and making sure technology is ready for presentations. “We have to make sure all those pieces and parts are good to go. It’s not a one step process,” Strupp said. “We will also follow up with thank you cards for them to keep that partnership going, because we don’t want to burn them out. We want to keep that relationship going because we want to make sure that they know how much we appreciate them.”
Danny Espinoza (12) recommends this class opportunity for Mustang Strong to students in the future because of the learning environment in addition to getting to spend time with friends. “I think that a lot of people would enjoy being able to sit and pet dogs, and, you know, listen to why therapy dogs are here,” Espinoza said. “After the presentation, students were able to talk to their friends while also being able to pet the dogs.”
Espinoza also feels that if they were to change anything about the class, they would have more variety within the dogs who volunteered. “My favorite aspects were meeting the dogs,” Espinoza said. “The only thing I would change is maybe having more variety because I’ve seen Rumble, Tebow and Endura before. But again, I know that they’re just really good support dogs.”
Espinoza believes that this class is important for students to sign up for because of the learning opportunity about the dogs and what they do. “I think it’s important to have every year so students, especially incoming students who haven’t taken the class before, can learn the importance of therapy dogs and why they’re here, and the difference between therapy dogs, emotional support dogs, and service dogs,” Espinoza said.
A Mustang Strong class that Espinoza feels holds a similar importance as the therapy dog class is the petting zoo. “I think that one would also help,” Espinoza said, “because I know that some farm animals can help with therapy too, and just the act of petting an animal can be therapeutic in itself.”
Strupp hopes that students will take advantage of the opportunities that arise from Mustang Strong because of what can be learned through skills, mental health and hobbies. “We don’t want you guys to miss out on stuff you don’t even realize exists in the world,” Strupp said. “You might learn a new hobby for your mental health. You might take advantage of an activity that you didn’t even think that you were gonna like,and you want to continue it, because it’s all about building more mental health supports and helping you guys learn some new skills.”
Strupp feels she has seen a positive response from students who have the opportunity to sign up for the class, and has found that it is a sought after activity. “I think it’s been wildly beneficial for kids who can just sit in there and learn and listen to the training that goes into it,” Strupp said. “The dogs wander around, and they bounce from kiddo to kiddo. And sometimes they’ll spend a lot of time with a person or a group of people. But ultimately, everybody gets a chance with the dogs.”
