
Oakley,
a
two-year-old
labradoodle,
knows
when
she's
at
Bull
Run
Middle
School-as
a
therapy
dog
from
Heeling
House,
she
gets
excited
for
these
visits
because
they
usually
mean
a
lot
of
brushing,
petting,
and
loving
from
the
students
and
staff.
The
idea
of
bringing
in
a
therapy
dog
service
was
originally
a
request
from
a
student
with
special
needs
and
parent
four
years
ago.
Recognizing
the
benefits
therapy
dogs
could
have
for
all
students,
the
Bull
Run
Middle
staff
brought
in
the
service
for
the
whole
school.
They
once
worked
with
Dayo,
another
Heeling
House
therapy
dog
and
Oakley's
brother.
This
year,
Oakley
comes
three
days
a
week,
visiting
classrooms
and
the
school's
Wellness
Lounge.
This
number
of
visits
is
an
increase
from
previous
years
because
the
counseling
department
saw
a
greater
need
for
social
and
emotional
health-based
initiatives.
"[In
a
survey,]
over
two-thirds
of
our
students
said
they
were
at
least
somewhat
anxious
about
coming
back
to
school,"
said
Amy
Shelton,
Bull
Run
Middle's
director
of
school
counseling.
"One
way
that
we
wanted
to
tackle
this
was
to
incorporate
more
services
focusing
on
social
and
emotional
health,
so
we
increased
the
amount
of
time
that
the
therapy
dog
came
to
school."
During
these
school
visits,
students
may
read
to
Oakley
during
class
time,
play
a
game
with
her
in
the
Wellness
Lounge,
or
say
hi
as
she
walks
by
in
the
hallway
or
cafeteria.
These
visits
make
Oakley's
tail
wag,
but
even
more
so,
they
make
the
students
smile.
Their
time
with
Oakley
is
a
chance
to
relax
and
decompress
before
continuing
with
the
regular
school
day.
"The
highlight
for
me
is
just
to
see
the
impact
she
has
on
so
many
kids.
[Oakley]
gets
so
much
happiness
from
them,
too.
I
just
love
seeing
them
interact,"
said
Brittany
Mraz,
puppy
program
coordinator
at
Heeling
House.