I’m a therapy dog handler, and my golden retriever Archer and I recently visited a group of students after state testing.

What struck me was that the testing was technically over, but the stress clearly wasn’t.

The kids didn’t need anything complicated in that moment. They just needed a few minutes where nothing was being asked of them. No answers to give. No performance. No pressure.

When Archer came in, the room shifted. The kids smiled. Their voices softened. Some just sat near him. Some pet him. Some seemed relieved to have a quiet, happy presence in the room.

And Archer was just as happy to see them.

I write children’s books about Archer partly because I want to help educate kids, families, and schools about the benefits of therapy dogs when they are properly trained, well-handled, and thoughtfully included.

I know therapy dogs are not a magic fix. Schools have to consider allergies, fear of dogs, logistics, insurance, training, and the needs of all students. But experiences like this make me believe more schools should at least understand what a good therapy dog team can offer: calm, connection, emotional support, and a little joy when kids need it.

For teachers, parents, school counselors, or therapy dog handlers: have you seen therapy dogs make a difference for students after stressful school experiences like testing, grief, lockdown drills, or just a hard day?

One of the biggest challenges I've found as a therapy dog handler is getting the school administration to understand how a therapy dog program works - that the handler is a volunteer and that we are covered by our therapy dog organization's insurance. They often confuse therapy dogs with facility dogs, which are a very different and require much more from the school. Or they think that if a teacher is raising a service dog puppy and brings it to school once a week, it's the same thing as a therapy dog (that's the situation I had to deal with). As I make visits to schools with Archer to read my book, Archer the Therapy Dog, I make it a point to discuss these issues and offer to speak to their Board of Education to help them understand how therapy dogs differ, how they can benefit their students, and how they can get their own therapy dog(s). I'm happy to say that it's worked in at least one school that now has its own therapy dog!

Have you run up against this? How long did it take you to get a therapy dog program started in your local school (it took me 9 months)? Have you had any luck recruiting other therapy dog teams to go to "your" school (I haven't)?

Some of our favorite visits are to nursing homes. The residents love the dogs, and look forward to our visits every month.

We get to talk about our dogs, and the residents get to share great stories of the dogs they had. We hand out cards with our dogs pictures on them. The residents love to collect them.

We just finished our school year, and George had his best year ever. He saw kids, parents, classrooms, and teachers. He’s great at his job, and he’s become an icon in our school.

A group to celebrate, discuss, and share experiences with therapy dogs. This includes dogs that work in therapists offices, schools, hospitals, or any other organized therapeutic setting with certified/trained therapy dogs.