BY ANDY TAYLOR
chronicle@taylornews.org

INDEPENDENCE — Students who have behavior control issues will soon learn why dogs are considered man’s best friend.

The SEK Academy in Independence will incorporate a canine into the school setting as a source of behavioral control. A trained canine that recognizes agitation will intervene when tempers flare among students.

After all, what can bring blood pressures down and put a smile on the face more than a well-trained dog teasing its master with its wet nose and excitable wagging tail?

“Dogs have proven to be a source for calmness,” said Brian Murrison of Four County Mental Health Center. “That concept is nothing new. While the dog will be used to intervene in the cases when behavior issues mount, the caring and feeding of the dog also will teach the students the importance of responsibility.”

Four County Mental Health Center was awarded a $7,2000 grant from the Tower Mental Health Foundation to purchase, train and care for a service dog. Morrison said he will receive the dog — believed to be a chocolate labrador — in March and have the dog used in the classroom setting by April. A facility in Concordia, Kan., trains canines to specialize in behavioral intervention, and Murrison himself will undergo a week of training in Concordia before the dog will be allowed in the SEK Academy classroom.

The dog also will be used in an after-school program. Then, Muorrison himself will care and house the dog during non-school hours.

Not only is the presence of a friendly dog considered a deterrent to behavioral meltdowns, but also a person’s memories of a dog often conjure warmer, happier feelings, Murrison said.

“It all goes back to most people’s childhood,” he said. “People think back to the fond feelings they had toward their own dog.”

The Tower Foundation was created as a result of the settlement between the Attorney General’s Office and the Menninger Foundation. Tower is a not-for-profit corporation formed in 2007 and provides support to organizations that provide mental health services to Kansans. It can also provide support to mental health research organizations. In that way it continues the mission of the Menninger Foundation in Kansas.