Therapy dog tackles fear

Katie, a 6-year-old English setter, serves as a therapy dog and often visits nursing homes and other facilities to engage and comfort the residents.

She got a different assignment Tuesday - traveling to Merriwether Elementary School for a different kind of healing.

It's been a particularly difficult time for the children and faculty. About three weeks ago, fourth-grader Kristen Lee Dutton, 9, died when the family pet she was walking suddenly attacked her.

Counselors from other schools were brought in to assist Merriwether counselor Meagan Morris in meeting with the students, many of them devastated by the loss of a classmate. Recently, she decided to invite Aiken SPCA volunteer coordinator Chrissey Miller to talk with the students in three grade-level sessions. Miller brought along volunteer Joann Minnick, owner of Katie.

"It was a definite shock for everybody," Morris said. "Even after a week, many of the kids were still scared of their own dogs. One boy whose dog had always slept in his bed said he wasn't doing that anymore. I knew we had to do something. I didn't want the kids to live with that fear."

Miller strove to emphasize that dogs can be great companions, but children should always be careful around any dog, especially with those they don't know. Several kids got a chance to approach Katie appropriately and pet her under the chin as the others watched.

"If we can renew the children's interest in their own pets, then we have accomplished what we set out to do," Miller said. "This (event) is really courageous and inspirational. To actually invite a dog and someone who knows something about dogs is a progressive approach to what happened."

Dogs are amazing creatures, Miller told the children. Their sense of smell is 4,000 times that of people, which helps them find criminals, lost people and even sicknesses inside people's bodies.

But they are not human and react differently to external situations. Kids should avoid looking at a dog directly in the eye, as that can upset the dog. A scared dog can be dangerous, and even a seemingly happy dog can pose problems as well.

"If a dog does chase you, Miller said, "the best thing to do is to wrap your arms around your head and protect your face and head and neck and scream like crazy."

Just this one time, Miller told the kids with a smile, it's OK to scream for practice. The children did so, with enthusiasm.

Miller has a fourth-grader and a first-grader of her own. They've been around dogs all their lives and so has she.

"After all these years, I've only been bitten by one dog," she said. "And that was a Chihuahua."