16 October 2023
ALBANY, Minn. There’s nothing more popular than a cute dog at the entrance of an elementary school at the start of another school day.
At Albany Elementary in late September, Rebel a petite, black, white and brown Cavalier King Charles Spaniel greeted students. He was accompanied by his human, Mary Beech, a retired school counselor and current therapy dog volunteer.
As each school bus unloaded, the pair were surrounded by cooing second- and third-graders.
“He’s so soft!”
“He’s so cute!”
“What’s his name?”
“Can I pet him?”
Beech attempted to limit the kids to just a few petting Rebel at a time, but this wasn’t super successful. Rebel soaked in all the love, tail wagging and eyes locked with his handler, greeting 400 kids with all their energy and smells. Beech also greeted students, answering questions and catching up with those she met this summer in a reading program also with the help of Rebel.
But Rebel’s not just there for show he’s there to help. Therapy animals are becoming more widely accepted across our culture. Emotional support animals for a wide variety of conditions are protected by law. A dog can accompany people on the witness stand, providing emotional support, in the Stearns County Courthouse. College campuses even bring cats and dogs to campus to give students a chance to decompress and destress.
Amy Walz, founder of You’re Not Alone, a nonprofit in-school therapy dog program, wants to take that support animal concept one step further: Her goal is to have a therapy dog team in every middle school in the state.
The Monticello woman created You’re Not Alone after experiencing what the healing, unconditional love of dogs did for her family, who were dealing with a variety of mental health issues.
“Unconditional love is what really the whole mission of You’re Not Alone is … to help people understand the unconditional love of pets or dogs,” Walz said. “We need to love ourselves unconditionally. And we don’t do that. We always expect too much. We expect ourselves to keep up with what is normal in society. And really, there is no normal.”
She currently works with Willow, a 4-year-old golden retriever, who Walz has deemed the “founding canine” of You’re Not Alone.
Walz enjoys using dog puns throughout the organization, like “paw-some” or “paw-sitivity.” And she talks about difficult concepts using dog terms, or using the dog as the main character. All of this makes the topics more approachable for kids, she said.
“Willow’s my icebreaker. … She’s my conversation starter,” Walz said.
Making connections with schools and kids
You’re Not Alone acts as a conduit. Walz informs people about the training and certifications required for therapy dog teams. She connects certified teams with school districts. And she’s helping those teams connect with and support students once they’re in the schools.
She’s already been bolstered by statewide media coverage, which got her attention from across the state and beyond.
But Walz is dreaming even bigger. She’s already had people from other states reach out to ask how they can start doing similar things in their regions.
As of early October, You’re Not Alone is already in or has plans to visit at least six school districts, sometimes in multiple schools. In addition to Albany and Avon, she has teams connected with schools in Monticello, Big Lake, Elk River, Rogers, Roseville and Warroad. Her teams also visit one state correctional facility.
You’re Not Alone has about 18 human-dog therapy teams making those visits, with seven more teams currently in training and at least 15 more expressing interest in joining You’re Not Alone.
Walz is looking to expand into other Central Minnesota schools, too.
Although Beech is relatively new to You’re Not Alone, she has already seen the impact a dog can make on students. She brought Rebel to school with her nearly every day for her last few years as a school counselor for middle and high school students in southwestern Minnesota. Rebel even has his own Facebook page.
When she retired, she moved to Central Minnesota to be closer to family, but wanted to continue her work with Rebel.
“It was fun having him in high school. The kids really liked him there too. I’d have kids come in and say, ‘Mrs. Beech, I just need some Rebel time.’ Especially like when they had tests or something,” Beech said. “(Dogs) just help with anxiety and depression and all those things.”
Getting started
Walz first tested the idea of therapy dogs in schools in her hometown of Monticello, where a principal had already experimented with having a therapy dog at school
When she first started visiting Monticello Middle School, Walz had shared her family’s mental health journey story with a staff member, who encouraged her to share it all of it with the middle school students.
“I said, ‘Are you sure that they can handle depression, anxiety, bullying and suicide talk? And she said, ‘Absolutely,’” Walz said. “And that’s how I started my conversations. We’d sit in a big circle. Willow would stop and do her little loving to all the kids. And then I started to share our story.”
We need to love ourselves unconditionally. And we don’t do that. We always expect too much. We expect ourselves to keep up with what is normal in society. And really, there is no normal.
“And the kids … I had their full attention because I don’t know if they’ve ever heard someone share a story like this,” Walz said. “It just created this really peaceful environment.”
In her first school, Walz and staff didn’t want to single out kids for particular attention or help, because they didn’t want to label kids. So they created a sign-up sheet, where kids could self-identify as needing support.
“After about two months, we had to shut the list down because there were too many names and not enough weeks in the year,” Walz said.
Walz, Willow and the kids met in small groups for a few hours at a time, which turned into Wednesdays with Willow. Kids could sign up for “Puppy Passes.”
“We started to just attract kids that just needed extra love, a calm atmosphere, a nonjudgmental zone,” Walz said.
A layer of support
Walz is a mom and has experience living with mental illness and with loving people experiencing mental illness but she’s not a mental health professional. Most of the humans in the therapy teams aren’t either, and they’re not meant to be.
For Walz, the human-dog-student connection is the point, a layer of support that differs from formal mental health services.
“We go by our first names. … I want them to realize that we’re just a person that’s there that really wants to support them,” Walz said.
Walz works with the therapy teams so they have mental health first aid, creating awareness about when to seek out additional support for a student, by collaborating with school staff.
She also helps teams by providing conversation starters or other kinds of training to talk about mental health, bullying prevention or calming and intervention techniques.
“That’s the main goal when I talk to kids is: I’m here to help guard your hearts. Put that armor around your heart to protect your mental health from the bullying taking you down,” Walz said.
After about six months at her first school, Walz worked with staff to poll the kids on their experiences.
Kids started sending statements:
“Now that I got a Willow hug today, I can get through my afternoon.” “Wednesday mornings are the easiest day for me to wake up to go to school, knowing Willow’s in school.” “Even if I can’t get a Puppy Pass, knowing Amy and Willow are there I feel calmer.”
One of the key parts of the program is that it doesn’t cost the school districts anything. The therapy teams are completely volunteer. And in a way, that makes them more meaningful for the kids, Walz said.
At one point, the kids asked Walz how much she and Willow were being paid to be there.
“And I said, ‘Nothing.’ And they said, ‘Why are you doing this?’ I said, ‘Because I want a better future for you kids.’ And I said, ‘I get paid in love,’” Walz said. That changed the dynamic for the kids, Walz said.
Building community
Walz is doing her best to not only bring therapy dog teams to schools but to build a community around them. The dog teams really become a part of the school. For instance, Willow had her photo taken and was included on the staff page in the yearbook. She even gets a staff badge to wear at school. Willow’s photo is in the school office. And then Walz makes trading cards for each dog on a therapy team that can be handed out to schools. She also outfits the teams with shirts, lint rollers for dog hairs and more.
Fundraising allows Walz to keep the nonprofit going, outfit dog teams and train the humans on best practices.
Eventually, Walz wants to expand to some more fundraising opportunities. For instance, a family could sponsor a therapy dog team to come to the school for the year, or sponsor the expense of a yearbook photo.
And while she wants to grow, ultimately, she just wants to be there to support the kids.
“I’m doing what God is asking me to do. … I have a dog. I can break the ice but I also have a story to share,” Walz said. “God’s pretty, pretty miraculous on who he asks to do what.”
Editor’s note: If you or someone you know is in crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741.
How to get involved For more about You’re Not Alone, visit ynausa.org. For more about how school districts can get connected with You’re Note Alone, visit ynausa.org/for-schools-districts. To learn more about training to become a therapy dog team, visit ynausa.org/start-a-team. To donate, visit ynausa.org/donations. To follow Rebel on Facebook, visit www.facebook.com/dogtherapyisthebest.]]>