Frank the Therapy Dog Visits North Elementary School

ALTON - Frank the Therapy Dog and his owner Renee Fleming visited North Elementary School on Friday afternoon to teach kids about therapy dogs.

Fleming is the owner of Renee Fleming Chiropractic, located in Godfrey. Recently, she got her therapy dog, Frank, after he went through many classes and much training, she has been bringing him around the Alton area to educate about therapy dogs and all the great things they do. One of the main topics that Fleming discusses when she brings Frank to schools, nursing homes, workplaces, and more, is the difference between therapy dogs and service dogs.

“Frank is a therapy dog through an organization called Got Your Six Support Dogs. Got Your Six Support Dogs offers therapy dog training classes for individuals who would like to volunteer in their community with their four-legged friend. Therapy dogs are trained dogs that offer comfort to individuals in a variety of settings, including nursing homes, hospitals, schools, courthouses, etc. Got Your Six also specializes in providing service dogs to veterans and first-responders suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and/or sexual trauma,” said Fleming.

Frank and Renee’s visit to North Elementary was both an educational and fun experience for the kids. After Renee spoke to the kids about Frank, they were all able to meet and pet him.

“Frank’s job when visiting schools is to teach the children the difference between service dogs and therapy dogs, how to properly approach and pet a dog, and then letting them practice what they have learned to bring awareness to dog safety and bite prevention,” said Renee.

Frank was calm and relaxed the whole time. Proving that he is good at his job, being a therapy dog.

“Frank is a 2-year-old boxer that was rescued at 5 months old. Frank had the best, most loving temperament so I knew I needed to find something for him to do in the community to share him with others. Frank needed a lot of training as he was a rescue, but with his strong willingness to learn I knew we could reach our goal in becoming a therapy dog with dedication and the right training program,” said Fleming.

Frank went through a lot of training to become the dog he is today. Renee told the kids at North Elementary that he had to go through school to learn just like they do.

“To get certified as a therapy dog, Frank had to pass an overall temperament test in order to be accepted into the program. From that point, he completed 10-hour long training sessions, passed his canine good citizen test and advanced canine good citizen test, and completed ten supervised therapy visits with a senior therapy team,” said Fleming.

If you would like to learn more information about the organization Frank worked with, check out their website https://gotyoursixsupportdogs.org. You can also follow on Facebook, Got Your Six Support Dogs Therapy Dogs, for current events happening in the community.

If you are interested in having Frank, or any of the other therapy dogs involved with Got Your Six Support Dogs, come visit your school you can contact the organization directly or email Renee at edelenrenee@gmail.com for more information.

More like this: