I had the consideration this week of talking with SUNY Geneseo’s remedy canine, Michele, and her handler, Marci Frutkoff. Michele is a nine-year-old Labrador retriever who has been working at Geneseo as a remedy canine each Thursday for the previous 4 semesters.
Michele works to offer emotional help for college kids in want of consolation, together with those that miss their dogs away from home. “A lot of kids come here, but I didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t realize how emotional it is to visit a school,” Frutkoff states. She added, “For me, it is very touching how much the kids adore her, even just walking in here from the parking lot.”
Frutkoff says, “[Michele] is a very low-key dog and very serious; she knows she has to lay here. That’s what she does, and she only gets up when people come, she knows this is what is expected.” Frutkoff explains the power to set work time and playtime is crucial, similar to when college students go to class—there are specific expectations.
When requested about Michele’s home life, Frutkoff defined that “Michele has two families…she goes back and forth between both families, but when she’s with me, we’re a therapy dog team.” Not solely does Michele have two households, she additionally has two jobs. Michele works on Fridays at a neighborhood elementary faculty, the place first graders learn to her to realize confidence studying aloud, alongside her one and a half hours on the school on Thursdays.
Frutkoff is a puppy raiser for Guiding Eyes for the Blindshe defined, “I got Michele and she chose not to be a guide dog.” Instead, Michele selected to develop into a remedy canine and has helped college students for years. Frutkoff explains, “Everybody has to be tested to be a therapy dog.” Michele and Frutkoff took an eight-week class throughout which Michele practiced a number of new expertise, together with not consuming meals that has fallen on the ground, or meals that individuals attempt to hand to her. This is as a result of she will not be allowed to eat whereas she works. She additionally practiced being close to folks with wheelchairs, crutches, and walkers in case she was later placed in a nursing home or hospital.
Later, Frutkoff mentioned the privileges Michele has in comparison with these of family pets as a remedy canine on the Geneseo campus. According to Frutkoff, a remedy canine is barely allowed to enter a public building when they’re working, in contrast to information dogs who can go wherever any person can go, in keeping with the Americans with Disabilities Act. “I cannot go in every building [with Michele] like the college union, and I cannot take her to Starbucks and get a cup of coffee,” stated Frutkoff.
Frutkoff additionally shared some thrilling information about our resident library canine, as the faculty is planning to make a separate room and particular space only for Michele within the new Milne library. According to Frutkoff, they’re “going to rotate her around and see what place is the best.”
Make certain to spend a while with Michele from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. on the primary, third, and fifth Thursdays of the month and 1:00 to 2:30 p.m. on the second and fourth Thursdays within the Fraser Hall Library. If you’re unable to hang around with Michele throughout her Thursday work hours, she will likely be returning to Geneseo for Great Day on Apr. 24, the place you’ll be able to meet up with Michele on the fireplace lounge within the MacVittie College Union from 9:30 to 11 o’clock a.m..
