Findley, an 11-week-old golden retriever, has provided students with plenty of smiles and comfort at Chief Umtuch Middle School in Battle Ground as he works to become an officially certified therapy dog.
Findley marks school psychologist Tracey Viall’s fourth therapy dog in the Battle Ground Public Schools district. Findley will undergo his official training after his next round of shots next week. It will include puppy preschool, obedience and temperament training.
“They loved Marlowe, and if you go through the front office, you’ll see her portrait on the wall,” Viall said of the students’ love for her therapy dogs. “But even more, kids are involved with Findley, and there’s something really cool about a school raising a puppy. There will be a bond with Findley with them forever.”
A few students expressed what they loved the most about having a puppy at the school, with some saying Findley brings them comfort.
“It’s really fun, like you can just ask your teacher to take a break. You just come down here and play with the puppy for a little bit, and it’s just really relaxing and calming,” said seventh grader Connor Wray.
Taven Urban, another seventh grader at Chief Umtuch Middle School, said Findley is pretty cool in that he provides people happiness when they’re going through tough times. Urban also added that he enjoys how playful Findley is. While outside running with Findley during a break from class on Thursday, Nov. 16, Urban and other students were full of smiles and laughter while Findley got his morning exercise.
Students can have puppy play-time both at lunch and during their requested breaks to see Viall and Findley. At all four lunches, Viall said the pup’s out running around with students during recess.
“Right now, I have a drop-in policy. So anybody who wants to come at lunch comes, and we just go outside and run around and make sure everybody wants a turn with the leash,” Viall said. “[There’s] fewer eighth graders, but even eighth graders are getting into the puppy business.”
Viall added that the hallway traffic comes to a halt when the students see Findley. She is often worried about him being stepped on but the students do a great job, Viall calls the hallway stoppage “Findley Traffic.”
Haley Roa-Cooper, a sixth grader at Chief Umtuch, feels a special connection with Findley.
“Findley reminds me of my other dog that passed away,” Roa-Cooper said. “[Findley] is very gentle with people. He’s a playful dog and he is cute.”
As Roa-Cooper is in sixth grade, she and Findley will grow alongside each other for the next two years. She hopes to visit Findley for half the school day over the next couple of years and watch him grow right alongside her growth in middle school.
Viall is grateful to the Battle Ground Public schools district for allowing her to have therapy dogs, especially one starting out so young.
“I’m just grateful that I work in a district that lets him come to school this young because the socialization that happens when they’re little like this is vital for being good in their role later on,” Viall said.
Viall also recognized Julie Slayton, the golden retriever breeder that hand-picked Findley from the litter to be a therapy dog, adding that Slayton has been able to tell which puppy is best suited for the role almost immediately.
