Within the main office, there is a smaller, seemingly typical office, occupied by a desk, bookshelf, and file cabinet, but this office is anything but typical. There is a bin full of dog toys on top of that cabinet and a small bed along with an even smaller water bowl resting in front of the bookshelf. Sleeping in that bed is a small black and white dog, tired from getting more attention than the average little dog gets every Friday. The name of this adorable Shih Tzu is Ruby, and she is the school’s beloved therapy dog.
She is a special dog who has many traits that set her apart from the average yippy dog. Kristen Merrill, Ruby’s handler, stated how Ruby “likes people and seeks out affection and things like that, so I think that makes her a good therapy dog as opposed to my parents who have had other dogs where they’re scared of noises or scared of people.” She said, “When I was getting a dog I was like I need one with an outgoing personality.” Ruby had these traits prior to becoming a therapy dog, which is most likely why she is now so amazing with students.
Merrill is also one of MHS’s psychiatrists. Much like Ruby, she has a calm and kind demeanor. Although Merrill is Ruby’s handler on the last day of every week, that is only part of her job. Her everyday job at MHS is being a school psychologist. Describing her job, Merrill said, “I work with a bunch of different kids who need extra support. I work with kids in special education, evaluating kids, helping kids who need extra help, not just in special education.” Providing extra help for students who need it is Merrill’s primary job; however, Ruby assists in this when she’s at school by adding a little joy to students’ days whether they are having a bad day or just need something to brighten their day. Merrill seems to have the same effect. She always has a kind and welcoming smile on her face, which makes her easy to talk to.
Ruby is a certified therapy dog. To receive this title, Merrill had to get Ruby trained. In Merrill’s office sprinkled with Ruby’s belongings like her small Kong brand toy fit for a little dog, Merrill explained the process she and Ruby went through so that Ruby could be certified. She said, “We did a lot of training before she was getting certified through the Alliance of Therapy Dogs. She has to go to two medical visits, so like to go to nursing homes and hospitals so things like that. Her training was pretty special in that way.” Ruby continues to go to nursing homes and hospitals every couple weeks to stay polished on her training.
Ruby is an outstanding therapy dog with a tendency to make the noise of a sneeze-like scoff rather than barking. Her personality traits fit with being a therapy dog as well. Merill explained how Ruby is “very friendly, loves attention. She is very curious and loves to explore, so she’s not a timid dog, which is good for therapy dogging.”
It is important for therapy dogs to be calm just as Ruby always is so as to not get spooked easily when surrounded by people who want to shower her with attention. For instance, when brought into room B108 in Mentor High School, the students, and even the teacher, lit up with excitement and quickly approached Ruby. Colette Schudel, a sophomore who met Ruby said, “It’s just nice seeing a friendly dog around the school, and dogs always make me happy.”
Merrill and Ruby are essential to the mental wellbeing of MHS’s students. Ruby helps students and even teachers as Merrill explained. Therapy dogs have been proven to be positive although there are some concerns described by the National Library of Medicine about them such as, “sanitation, allergies, and safety issues, as well as a lack of guidelines, regulations and support resources available to school staff.” Yet the positive results of therapy dogs seem to have outshined these various concerns.
