Not one but three therapy dogs visited Rachel Carson Middle School on March 20, bringing joy to the students and staff members of the school.
RCMS students have enjoyed visits from Tucker for years, but this time he was joined by two friends.
Max was one of the new visitors this week. Max is a 7-year-old French Bulldog who has been working as a therapy dog for the past six and a half years. He makes two to three visits every month and has volunteered at many public locations, including schools, hospitals, nursing homes, and libraries in Virginia.
Ms. Maria Lee, his owner, who lives in Oakton, is a dog trainer who formerly worked in social services. She takes care of not only Max, but his two siblings as well.
Max has a dramatic story of how he arrived in Ms. Lee’s life. She said Max’s first owner stole him from the pet store using a fraudulent credit card. Ms. Lee adopted Max once he was returned to the pet store.
RCMS’s normal therapy dog Tucker visits Carson every other week. Ms. Christy Ryder, the counselor for the Explorers and All Stars teams, explained that Max and the other new dog, Sky, were invited to join Tucker in honor of March Wellness Week. Together, the dogs visited several classrooms and students had the opportunity of learning about their job.
Ms. Lee explained that the school had contacted the company, Alliance of Therapy Dogs. The company then reached out to her and extended the invite.
According to Ms. Lee, the process of becoming a therapy dog was not simple. Therapy dogs need to receive many different certifications and must follow certain rules, such as staying 2 feet away from other dogs and wearing a four-foot leash.
“You have to get your dog to be obedient and let them experience different people,” said Ms. Lee. “As long as you visit every 90 days, you can stay certified. It’s totally volunteer based.”
After becoming a therapy dog, Max has volunteered at various places and has impacted many individuals.
“I took Max to a school,” said Ms Lee, “and there was a girl who was having a hard time. She was having a panic attack. Spending time with Max really helped her calm down and express her emotion.”
Max also takes part in the program Paws to Read at a library, where Max spent time listening to kids with disabilities read aloud.
“It’s really awesome to see him make kids more comfortable reading,” said Ms. Lee.
Ms. Lee shared that outside of his job, Max enjoys playing with his siblings. Though he is not very good at playing fetch, he still loves to run around outside. He also likes to meet new people and is a very gentle dog.
“He loves other dogs,” stated Ms. Lee, “but he loves meeting people more.”
Ms. Ryder said Max and Sky are not scheduled to visit RCMS again this school year, but she hopes that they will come again next year.
Janani Ramanathan, an eighth-grader on the Discovery Team, was one of the students who was visited by Max.
“I feel that it’s really motivational,” she said about the visits from the therapy dogs. “It’s amazing that they’re doing this.”
Ms. Lee said that while Max enjoys playing with other dogs and spending time outside, he still loves his job. While he is only required to make a visit once every 90 days, he instead visits two to three times a month.
“It’s just really fun, seeing him there at the schools and universities,” said Ms. Lee. “It’s really rewarding.”
Abhay Acharya, Annie Wang, and Czaee Shah contributed to this article.
