Saturday, September 30, 2017Tonight's picture was taken in June of 2009. Mattie went over to a friend's house who had a parakeet. This was Mattie's first encounter with a parakeet that was someone's pet. Honestly Mattie did not know what to make out of this encounter. Part of him was intrigued but the other part of him was scared. Since Mattie did not like the claws of the bird on his head or skin! But this photo to me is priceless! You can't help but see Mattie's beautiful bald head with the contrasting green of the bird, and to me the bird looks like it wanted to whisper something in Mattie's ear.
Quote of the day: When you show deep empathy toward others, their defensive energy goes down, and positive energy replaces it. That's when you can get more creative in solving problems. ~ Stephen Covey
My lifetime friend, Karen, sent me an article this week about the effective use of rescue dogs in the NYC school system. The article was great and what I found intriguing is that there is a whole curriculum used with these rescue dogs that is now being implemented in 1,000 schools in 36 states across the Country. The curriculum was designed by a Yale researcher and it is called Muttigree. Interestingly enough the curriculum and program are funded by Cesar Milan. Peter and I are big Cesar Milan fans, as we have been watching his dog show called the Dog Whisperer on TV even before we got Sunny. Milan is intriguing because he specifically says he trains people and rehabilitates dogs. There is a real psychology to interacting with a dog, and dogs are very sensitive to their humans and in turn help us learn fascinating things about ourselves. But they teach us in very subtle ways. Not with words but with their actions and behaviors. The Muttigree program is used to specifically help teach empathy and compassion in pre-K to 12th grade students. I found these articles so interesting that I forwarded them to Mattie's school. Since every school curriculum now tries to integrate in empathy and resilience, which sounds lovely, but how do you teach this to a 5 year old or any aged kid for that matter? These are complex terms that can be better operationalized with hands on, real world examples. This is where a dog comes in, and what a wonderful way to rescue a dog from being euthanized. It is hard to imagine that 3-5 million dogs a year are killed in shelters in the USA. Makes you wonder why someone would go to a breeder to get a dog, when so many are in need of a home at our local shelters.
This is what the Muttigree curriculum has been suggested to do:
- Enhances students’ abilities to succeed academically
- Improves student behavior
- Encourages compassion and empathy
- Promotes student interest in school
- Positively influences school climate
- Engages students, teachers, administrators & families
- Increases awareness of and desirability for shelter pets
- Positively impacts the community as a whole
Prior to getting Sunny, all of this would be a theoretical conversation with me. But having Sunny in my life, enables me to understand exactly what is being discussed in these articles. It isn't only my reaction to Sunny, but it is complete strangers on the street who react differently to me when they see Sunny. So many want to pet him, to get to know him, and thereby have a conservation with me. There is something very safe about being around one of our furry friends and I can only imagine how having a dog present in a school can change certain environmental dynamics.
The picture above, I pulled from one of the articles below. Notice that this dog in the photo looks like Sunny.... a border collie mix, with freckles included. Rescue dogs are hand selected to match the teacher's lifestyle and classroom. So there is thought put into this process, because it doesn't sound like Muttigree dogs are necessarily trained to work in schools. But instead are assessed by their given temperament! Which I get, because I could train Sunny all I'd like, but he has a certain temperament..... gentle, patient, but also head strong! You can't teach gentle and patient! You either have it or you don't!
Where the teacher's pet sleeps in a dog bed:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/31/nyregion/school-comfort-dog-program.html
The Muttigree Curriculum:
http://education.muttigrees.org/mutt-i-grees-curriculum-calm-confident-and-caring-kids
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