A helping paw

Moses Lake school brings service dog into classroom for special education students

MOSES LAKE — Katie is not your typical classroom aide.

With the wag of her tail, a wet kiss or a friendly paw shake the 11/2 year-old English bred chocolate lab becomes a close friend to the special education students she works with.

Befriending students is a task which often takes teacher Jone Montreuil nearly an entire school year to accomplish with her students who have severe mental and physical disabilities.

"The dogs are an unconditional friend to them that they don't always have in their lives," said Pam Joachims, who is a para professional in Montreuil's classroom at Chief Moses Middle School.

Katie's day begins just after 5 a.m. at home with Joachims who has been designated as her care taker, with a half-hour exercise session, followed by breakfast and then off to work.

The moment her harness, referred to as a gentle leader, is placed over her nose and behind her ears Katie is in work mode.

Her job duties range from opening doors to turning off and on classroom lights, picking up toys, splints and helmets and of course being a friend.

Some of those commands are communicated to Katie by using the words "nudge" or "paw."

Katie's job is one Montreuil says is necessary because her students cannot be left alone for too long if she needs something in another room.

In May Joachims and Montreuil traveled to Boston to get Katie. Joachims trained for a week with Katie before bringing her home to Moses Lake.

Montreuil accompanied on the trip, but was not permitted to train with Katie as trainers wanted her to become familiar with her primary care taker, Joachims.

After seeing a teacher from the Wahluke School District at a conference, who had also utilized the services of a training dog, and having had the experience of a co-worker's dog by the name of Norman in the classroom previously, Joachims and Montreuil decided to pursue the idea.

"We saw how he helped kids come out of their shell," Joachims said of Norman.

Norman is a chihuahua who assisted in Joachims classroom for two and a half years.

"They're not judgmental," Montreuil said of the dogs.

The two worked through a non-profit called the National Education for Assistance Dog Services (NEADS) of Princeton, Mass., to acquire Katie.

Katie had been donated to NEADS by a breeder as her paws were too big to make her a quality show dog.

Donations from the Moses Lake Wal-Mart, Teamsters and dentist Rory Knapp contributed toward the purchase of Katie.

"We really strive to give back to our community and we felt that this would be just a donation that would be well used in our community," said Wal-Mart co-manager Mike Wilson.

At the end of the day, when the bell rings and students go home, the harness comes off.

"When it's off she knows it's her time," Joachims said.