Melrose Primary School partnered with Dog’s Connect in 2019. The aim of the partnership was to establish a Dog’s in school program. The purpose behind this was to build on our already well-established well-being program. “Daisy” our school dog can often be seen in classrooms around the school. She is a Groodle (cross between Golden Retriever and Poodle). This means she drops very little hair and that her hair is also hypoallergenic, making it as safe as possible for children and staff that have allergies. Whilst Daisy is not a therapeutic dog, our students experience therapeutic benefits as a result of her being with them and at the school. She is well trained and loves being around people. Daisy is also used to build links between how students connect the content of our EQ program and how this could be applied to a real life situation. An example of this is being able to read Daisy’s body language and then making an appropriate decision on how to engage with her in a real life application.
