Charley – The Wellbeing Dog

Fun Facts about Charley

  1. I’m a Finnish Lapphund 
  2. I was traditionally bred for Herding Reindeer, however, I am now frequently used as a therapy dog
  3. The breed is from Lapland, in the Arctic Circle, which is also the Village where Santa Claus is from 

Everyone, meet Charley, another member of the Puzzle Tutoring Team! Charley is a Well-being Dog in a Sydney School and has been introduced into schools to bring positive change to the learning community. Charley, the Husky look alike, has been instrumental in his presence for students and staff, and as a result of this, Puzzle has elected to bring the friendly-fur on board. Well-Being Dogs in schools have been effective as their presence generates positive impacts on reducing students’ anxiety, support with managing challenging behaviours, breaking down barriers to learning, reducing blood pressure, improving relationships and enhancing academic outcomes (Dogs Connect, 2023).

How would a tutoring service benefit from this? .. 

Puzzle Tutoring is always looking at ways to improve engagement, outcomes and enhance a love of learning for our students. Given this, we would like to introduce Charley, Puzzle Tutoring’s very own Wellbeing Dog, who will commence with our service from Monday, June 5, 2023. Charley is known to bring a helpful and calm demeanour into any environment. Having completed the necessary due diligence and risk assessments and training, we will look to bring this affectionate influence into our tutoring service for the betterment of your child/ren. Dogs have been proven to be helpful in Literacy interventions, especially in reading, as the presence of a dog provides students – who may be anxious – a non-judgemental experience to allow the students to be fearless towards making mistakes (Dogs Connect, 2023). In essence, Charley will form an integral part of the Puzzle Team, and will be introduced as a Well-Being Dog into some of our tutoring sessions, and other services, in the future. 

How can Charley be used at Puzzle Tutoring? 

  1. When students are having a ‘Brain Break’ during Face to Face or Online Sessions, Charley can be present to perform certain tricks to help alleviate some anxiety or stress from the students; and/or,
  2. During Face to Face Sessions, Charley can be present before, during or after the session, to assist and support some of the positive factors mentioned above in a proactive manner. 

Where To Next For Parents: 

Initially, from Monday, June 5, 2023, Charley may feature in Online Sessions during Brain Break activities to allow some parents and students to meet Puzzle Tutoring’s Well-being Dog. If this is going to be a concern, please reach out. 

Reference List 

1. Dogs Connect (accessed on Monday, April 17, 2023).