Barlow the dog to provide stress reduction at Clay

        Clay High School students in March will start seeing a black Labrador retriever walking the halls to brighten their days.
        Barlow, a facility dog, will help reduce stress and anxiety in students.
        Oregon City Schools Superintendent Hal Gregory said at the last school board meeting that the dog will cost the district $6,000.
        “It’s very reasonable for a dog,” Gregory said of the cost. “We will own Barlow as a district.”
        The dog will go home every night with Clay assistant principal Greg Sigg.  
        “So even though we have a wonderful family and we have people here at the school that will help handle it within our accounts department, we do own it. If it needs a new family, then we’ll be in a place where we will have to find a family to host the dog in our district. I’m feeling really good about the cost.”
       
Funding
        It will be one of the featured fund raisers at Frost Fest, an annual event that raises funds for the district.
        “And there are other people stepping up that will help support the supplies we need and the medical benefits,” said Gregory.
        “It’s a beautiful little dog,” he added. “It’s one that the students and staff are going to get accustomed to. I can tell you (Principal) Jim Jurski is looking forward to having the dog visit his office once in a while.”
        School board member Lindsay Cathers asked what the difference is between a facility dog and a therapy dog. She also asked what the dog will be doing while at Clay.
       
Comfort
        The main goal of a facility dog is to provide companionship and comfort to a large group of people, said Sigg.
        “A therapy dog might perform a specific task for a specific reason. A facility dog, in general, is here for your enjoyment. Research shows dogs release hormones that brighten students’ days. A student might be shy about something. When you introduce a dog, a student will open up and want to tell you everything that’s going on. You also have emotional support animals.  An emotional support dog is specific to an individual. A service animal would also be specific to an individual and provide a specific task related to their disability,” said Sigg.
        Gregory said Barlow will not be in the big hallway at Clay at a time when all the students are transitioning.
        “He doesn’t like it, at least as of right now,” said Gregory. “He doesn’t do anything bad. He just shies away from it. He’d rather be in a corner and be more involved in individual situations. He’ll be with a counselor who will be out and about around the school. And he’s still being trained. He does not come to us officially until March. He’s been to the school about four or five times, breaking him in slowly, getting him used to the hallways and so forth.”
        Andy Ramsey, a Clay High School counselor, will be the primary handler at the school, according to Gregory.
        Sigg and his wife, Alana, fostered the dog through a company called Circle Tails in the Cincinnati area and took part in the final training, according to Gregory.
       
       
       
       
        .