Welcome Cooper!

We would like to welcome Cooper the Secondary Wellbeing Dog to the LJBC community. Cooper will be with the College Counsellor two days per week.

Cooper may attend counselling sessions, psychological assessments and meetings with the College Counsellor, with the goal of assisting students to feel more comfortable when discussing issues that might otherwise be difficult to talk about, to help them feel supported and to facilitate developing the therapeutic relationship.

During break times and before school Cooper can often be seen walking around the school with Mrs Carter, greeting students as they arrive to the College and saying hello.

Research indicates there are many reasons dogs are known as “mans best friend”. One study (Beetz, Uvnas-Moberg, Julius & Kotrschal, 2012) summarizes the positive effects of human-animal interaction as follows:

• “Improvement of social attention, behavior, interpersonal interaction, and mood
• reduction of stress-related parameters such as cortisol, heart rate, and blood pressure
• reduction of self-reported fear and anxiety
• improvement of mental and physical health, especially cardiovascular health.”

The effect that Cooper has had at the College can already be seen and we look forward to what is to come as he continues his training and impact within the College community. As one student said, “You should bring Cooper to school every day because he makes people happy. I was sad but now I am happy.”

Alyssa Carter

College Counsellor