It began with a Tweet. 6 Nov 2015
“Found: lost/stray dog (no collar) … Near 44th & Brush Creek in Stillwater. Anyone wanna give it a good home?”
L
iving in rural Oklahoma, stray an- imals come with the territory. But when a female yellow Labrador mix showed up—emaciated and hungry—at
a home fi ve miles southeast of Stillwater, some- thing was different. Twenty miles away, it had been a typical fall Friday for Patrick Smith, pre-K through 12th- grade principal of Coyle Public Schools and a member of Central Electric Cooperative. The Class C Bluejackets were hosting an eight-man football game, and Smith was busy with the myriad of duties thrust upon a small-town school administrator. “Football days are pretty long,” Smith says.
“You start at 7:30 in the morning, and by the time you get done late at night, you’re really just trying to decompress. That decompression for me was Twitter, catching back up with the world. Scrolling through, I came across a photo of a yellow Lab on a friend’s feed.” As it turns out, Smith had been searching for a dog, but not for a pet or companion. “We’d been looking for a dog that would be a good fi t in a school system,” Smith recalls. “At Coyle, a number of our students come from stressful situations that most Oklahomans probably don’t understand. There’s not a lot of stability in their lives. If you’re dealing with the fundamental needs of food, shelter and safety, how can you possi- bly concentrate on academics? “Kids love animals, and teachers use them in some form or fashion in every school system across the U.S., whether it’s a class gerbil or fi sh tank. Why not get a dog to provide some stress relief?” Smith says the idea was sparked by Pete’s Pet Posse at Oklahoma State.
OSU “First Cowgirl” Ann Hargis initiated the university’s pet therapy pro- gram in 2013 to provide training for dogs with the goal of enhancing phys- ical and emotional health on campus.
“If they can do that at a university level, why not the elementary, junior high or high school level?” Smith says.
“
Smith contacted Kendria Cost, Hargis’ assistant, who referred him to veterinarian John Otto. Otto serves as an adviser to a non-profit foundation (
FriendsForFolks.org) that works with inmates at two Oklahoma prisons to train abandoned dogs for pet therapy and service roles. “Dr. Otto and I talked about preliminary stuff, like
how to fi nd a dog and what type to get,” Smith recalls. “He said we needed a dog that’s ‘bomb-proof,’ mean- ing that if a kid came up and pulled its tail, it would be submissive, take it and wouldn’t snap or bite back.” Smith started searching at local dog shelters and
online. Looking at the picture of that pitiful pooch, Smith thought she might be “the one.” He messaged his friend.
“Still have the dog?”
Coyle Principal Patrick Smith, a Central Electric Co-op member, found the school’s therapy dog via social media.
Smith dropped by his friend’s house around 9:30 the following morning. “The dog was very friendly. It didn’t take long to determine she had a good personality. Never barked. Not aggressive. All she wanted to do was retrieve any object you would throw. We bonded right there on the spot. “When we got home, she came over, wagged her tail
and wanted to be petted and scratched. She was extremely well mannered. That was more reinforcement for me that it might work out,” Smith says. A few days later, Smith took newly named “Daisy” to see Dr. Otto at University Animal Hospital in Norman. Otto examined Daisy, weighed her and checked for a microchip. He found no identifi cation on her and esti- mated that she was about 2 or 3 years old. “We were trying to fi nd a sweet dog, one that would be good with children, and she fi t the bill,” Otto says. “She has that sweet disposition. You want a dog that is unfl appable. She’s defi nitely got those traits where she’s very submissive and non-aggressive.”
In early 2016, Daisy went to prison—the Mabel Bassett Correctional
Center, to be exact. Located in McLoud, the medium security facility houses more than 1,200 female inmates.
Daisy spent four weeks behind bars receiving daily training with an in- mate, beginning with the basics: Sit. Stay. Lie down.
As long as you’re making eye contact, she’s going to be your buddy, your friend and your support committee, all rolled into one. - Patrick Smith, Daisy’s owner and Central Electric Cooperative member
JUNE 2017
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