Vanguard Academy Students Add Therapy Dog To Classroom

Broken Arrow students welcomed a new therapy dog at Vanguard Academy on Wednesday. Avie is a four-month-old golden doodle and is already bringing comfort to students.

“Calmer. I felt relieved. She is honestly the sweetest dog ever and she makes you feel so relaxed. Instantly," said Lianea Anthony.

Anthony is a Vanguard sophomore and the idea of having a therapy dog on campus began with Anthony and two other students calling local veterinarians, dog breeders, and AVB bank looking for sponsors.

Avie will receive a certification as a therapy dog after 12 weeks of training. “Whenever we are stressed or we’re having a drop in our mental health that day we’re able to check her out and go hang out with her and have her pick up our spirits so that we can go back to work," said Anthony.

Avie will be ready to work during school hours and at night she'll go home with one of the Vanguard teachers, Malinda Silva.

“What we’re trying to do is, I will bring the dog to school with me probably, we’re aiming for every day but we will see how the pilot goes. Maybe it’ll be a couple of times a week. She’ll spend the day here kind of with me throughout the building and then at the end of the day the dog will come home with us and I typically take her for a run every day," said Silva.