The Unionville-Sebewaing Area School District just recently invited Blue, a 7-month-old panda German shepherd.
Since he was purchased in September, Blue has actually been training to be a tracker, so that he can discover missing individuals and ferret out drugs and weapons that might remain in the school.
“He will not have any aggressive anything, he’s simply going to be a multipurpose search dog,” said U.S.A. School Resource Officer Andrew Gokey.
Blue’s training is monitored by Sebewaing Police Chief Steven Repkie, who is a qualified K-9 fitness instructor. During the day, Blue is required to a part of U.S.A. Middle School no longer in usage to deal with his place training.
It began with tennis balls; he’ll do practically anything for a tennis ball, so Gokey begun by having him discover them. Later, other things were concealed with the tennis balls, so Blue comprehended that he was expected to search for those products also. Eventually, he’ll be able to find the other products without the tennis ball, which will be used as his reward for finding dangerous items.
Blue will be wherever Gokey is during the day, most likely in his office, where both students and staff can come to visit and be a little less stressed.
“I want him to be seen like what other schools have with therapy dogs, except he’s going to also have the ability to discover stuff to keep our school safe,” Gokey explained.
Therapy dogs have gained increasing popularity in Huron County Schools, from North Huron to Ubly Elementary. By providing calm, friendly companionship, these dogs make sure that trainees are set to learn with calm body and minds.
Shadow at Ubly, for instance, assisted a trainee recuperate from a mentally hard day. Chipper at North Huron assisted a trainee relax enough that she might remain for the remainder of the school day.
