Smart pups keep kids on toes

OVER the past four years, 12 Smart Pups in training have been part of daily school life at Sunshine Beach State School.The local school is dedicated to raising awareness about the valuable role these Assistance Dogs play in the day-to-day lives of children with special needs.
Smart Pups help children and their recipient families achieve greater quality of life through the loving companionship of a skilled furry best friend for life, or in other words, a trained and fully qualified Smart Pups Assistance Dog.
Currently there are two Smart Pups in foster care at the school – ‘Laddie’ who is being fostered with one of their teachers, Carol Sharpe, and ‘Harvey’ fostered by one of their families, Penny and Jonah.
The Smart Pup program is a win-win situation having a puppy in training in the school environment.
Not only is the puppy exposed to many situations that they would not come across outside of the school environment, the students learn about taking care of and sometimes assist in the training of the puppy learning the proper instructions and language.
“Many of my friends in different classes are so jealous of me being in the class with the Smart Pup, I love coming to school each day because I know the dog will be there waiting for me,” student Isaac said enthusiastically.
Over the years, it has been observed by teachers and parents that having a dog in training in the classroom helps develop student responsibility and keeps the class very calm and focused.
Smart Pups has been operating for four years, and in that time has placed a total of 34 dogs with families across Australia. Placed at 12-18 months of age, Smart Pup Assistance Dogs are granted public access and become an integral part of the recipient family’s life accompanying them on shopping trips, family outings and even holidays. Smart Pups receive no official funding from the Government and relies on donations, grants and fun-raising activities to continue the program.