Shona & Jasper
This week, we were so lucky to welcome Shona and Jasper to Junior Kindergarten for both the morning and afternoon classes. Jasper is a five year old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel who is calm, obedient and loves interacting with kids. Since 2011, Shona and Jasper have been a certified visiting team with the Pet Therapy Society of Northern Alberta.
We started our visit by chatting about how we should act around Jasper. Shona let us know these three things:
1) We need to use a "just right voice". If we whisper, Jasper won't be able to hear us. If we yell, we might hurt Jasper's ears.
2) We use walking feet so that we don't scare Jasper.
3) We use gentle hands because that's how Jasper likes to be pet.
The children had many questions and comments for Shona and Jasper:
"He's five years old? Just like us!"
"Is that kind of dog a cockapoo?"
"Do you ever make Jasper shake a paw?"
"My dog Olive is bigger than Jasper!"
"I have two dogs, named Andy and Chloe."
"He's a very good dog!"
"Him is so cute!"
Perhaps the most important question of all..."Can he do tricks?" Shona said yes! Jasper can jump through a hula hoop, shake a paw, sit, lie down and roll over. Then, Shona told us we could all choose a trick to try with Jasper! We are so lucky!
We started our visit by chatting about how we should act around Jasper. Shona let us know these three things:
1) We need to use a "just right voice". If we whisper, Jasper won't be able to hear us. If we yell, we might hurt Jasper's ears.
2) We use walking feet so that we don't scare Jasper.
3) We use gentle hands because that's how Jasper likes to be pet.
The children had many questions and comments for Shona and Jasper:
"He's five years old? Just like us!"
"Is that kind of dog a cockapoo?"
"Do you ever make Jasper shake a paw?"
"My dog Olive is bigger than Jasper!"
"I have two dogs, named Andy and Chloe."
"He's a very good dog!"
"Him is so cute!"
Perhaps the most important question of all..."Can he do tricks?" Shona said yes! Jasper can jump through a hula hoop, shake a paw, sit, lie down and roll over. Then, Shona told us we could all choose a trick to try with Jasper! We are so lucky!
The afternoon class picked many different tricks for Jasper to try: shake a paw, roll-over and jumping through a hoop. (Jasper didn't really like rolling over on our slippery floor, but he did his very best!)
The morning class unanimously decided that they all wanted to make Jasper jump through the hoop. Jasper was rather exhausted after jumping through the hoop for all 16 kids! Thanks for working so hard for us, Jasper! <3
To support the amazing work that Shona and Jasper do, donations to the Pet Therapy Society of Northern Alberta are greatly appreciated! As we have learned, there is something magical that happens when a live animal visits a classroom. You can learn more about what they do, and donate at the following link: http://pettherapysociety.com/ Thank you for considering supporting the important work that Shona and Jasper do!