“He comes with me wherever I go,” said Mary Jane Kulwicki, a guidance counselor at Valley.
“I go into classrooms every day and do lessons. I have groups that come to me several times during the week and so he’s with us. We go into the special needs classroom and he works with the kids in there. The MH kids, the little guys.
“He works sometimes with the occupational therapists and the physical therapists. I’ve taught him how to crawl, so the kids can imitate him when they want the kids to crawl. I’ve taught him a complete rollover so the kids just copy him.”
A couple years ago, Kulwicki learned about service dogs while at an Ohio counselors conference. After that, she received approval from school administration and filled out paperwork with Canine Companions for Independence, which has an Ohio branch in Delaware.
Yogi arrived in mid-May and became the newest Valley Viking. After school, he goes home with third-grade teacher Bonita Cochran.
“I have him all day here at school, and then she takes him home,” Kulwicki said. “We both went up for the training in May.
“He has just turned out to be a wonderful addition to the building. The kids love him. Most of the teachers really love him.”
Children shake his paw or pet Yogi when they show up for school. His calm, laid-back attitude doesn’t mask the fact he knows 40 voice commands. When there is no work to do, “Yogi is in his bed sleeping.”
Yogi goes for walks with children who had been afraid of dogs and sits with some students as they read aloud. But his life isn’t all work.
“His demeanor is a little bit different when he has his vest on and he has his vest on all day here,” Kulwicki said. “And then when Bonita comes to take him home, she takes it off and he becomes a dog-dog.”
For more information about Canines Companions for Independence, visit cci.org.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-6951 or mgokavi@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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