Hickory's Visit
After reading, The Right Dog for the Job by Dorothy Patent, our class wanted to learn more about therapy dogs. Mrs. Ludwig's sister, Ms. Gorman, agreed to bring her therapy dog, Hickory, to meet us. Hickory is a handsome, brown boxer who loves to give kisses to anyone he meets. He was the perfect guest and helped us to learn more about the role that therapy dogs play. Our essential question this week was, "How do people and animals benefit each other?" Hickory taught us that therapy dogs help people by cheering up depressed people or make people who are in the hospital feel better. Hickory also showed us some of the commands he could follow and impressed us with his ability to follow hand signals. He is a very smart dog who has obviously been well trained. After reading our story we know that people who raise and train dogs have to spend a lot of time with their dogs and have to be very patient while they help their dogs learn. Hickory has just begun working on finding scents. He showed us that he could find a canister with birch smell in it just by sniffing. The birch scent smelled like root beer to us, but not to him. Hickory's rewards for working hard are that he gets treats and lots of loving. He loves to be petted and enjoys licking anyone who will let him! We would like to thank Hickory and Ms.Gorman for spending time with us today!