A Support Dog in the Library - The First Full Week

Milo after a hard morning's work greeting teachers

This week was the first week that I brought Milo into school every day that I work (I don't work Wednesdays).  My husband dropped off Milo last week and he did well (Milo, not my husband!), enthusiastically greeting the office staff.  However, he hadn't gone to the toilet and I didn't want any puddles if I could help it so the longest he stayed was for an hour.  We popped in on the weekend and checked out the sectioned-off area where he would be toileting.  It wasn't so noisy so he 'watered the grass' and it was one less thing to worry about this week as at least he knew what was expected of him.

On Monday, my lovely husband again dropped off Milo and as it was close to morning tea time I decided to see how he would handle our staffroom.  We are a big primary school, with over 700 students and a large amount of staff.  We went in with our principal, Anne, and Milo was taken aback at first as when we opened the doors he was hit with a wall of noise.  Once everyone shushed a bit he was in his element though, walking up and down and checking out all the staff and showing off all his doggy charm.  After morning tea I took Milo to water the grass and then a nearby teacher asked if he could come and visit her classroom.  As it was a Year 5 & 6 classroom I said yes and Milo walked up and down the desks and had a good look around the class.  The teacher had prepared the class well and they were quiet-ish and stayed in their chairs.

For the rest of my week I started at 8.30am and Milo only stayed two or three hours as I was monitoring his energy levels and also working out how to balance looking after him with getting work done.  From inside the library, we watched students coming into school, and Milo met a few students who help out in the library in the morning.  Highlights were seeing some of our more vulnerable children showing an interest in Milo, and also the amount of staff who seem thrilled to have a dog on-site and are passing on tips and advice to me.  We have already had one staff member say that she really needed her short time with Milo, as she was having a bad day.  

We have not started visiting classes properly, although I've promised to go and see a Year 3 & 4 class next week who are going to be sharing about dogs at a school assembly later in the term. 

On Thursday afternoon our school newsletter was emailed to parents and we officially introduced Milo to our community.  I also made a little fact sheet and added Milo to our staff page on our website (I totally swiped this idea from another school, but it's cute!).

Things I've Noticed

• I am no longer of interest.  The constant question is "Where's Milo?".  I think I'll need to make a sign to indicate whether he is at school, sleeping, or at home so that we don't have to keep answering that question!
• It's not just the students, a lot of staff want to see Milo and just interacting with them is tiring for him and time-consuming for me.  I expect that this will wear off a bit once everyone has had a chance to meet him, although I think I underestimated the effect on my productivity.  It is quite stressful trying to get things done at the moment.  Luckily I don't have any major events on this year, as we run our Book Week and Book Fair every second year.
• Just looking out for a puppy at school is exhausting as I want him to be well-behaved and well-looked after but I am also trying to work.  Lots of people have been telling me that having a puppy is like having a toddler, and there's a reason people don't bring their toddlers to work!  By Friday I was exhausted and I need to take that into account when considering how often Milo should be at school.
• A lot of foot traffic comes through my office as it is the closest door that links the library and the resource room.  This disrupts Milo if he is trying to sleep so I'm going to have to ask that staff use the other door unless they need to speak to me. 
• Milo has been very excited at school and enjoys meeting everyone.  He is definitely a "people-dog".  Thank goodness for that!

For the week ahead, I am planning on taking Milo on three days for about two hours each time.