Someone shouts cheese, but before the camera clicks, the group of students burst into laughter because Winston misunderstands, hilariously thinking a dairy treat is on the way. He goes from a relaxed sitting pose to standing at attention in an instant, eyes darting around to see where the fromage is hiding in the school playground.

Winston is not your average photography model; he’s a three-year-old black Shepadoodle, a cross between a German Shepherd and a poodle, who has been the resident therapy dog in Ballyfeeney National School, Scramogue in Co Roscommon, for the last three years. This gentle giant, who arrived as a young pup, is one of more than 60 dogs nationwide supporting students and staff daily as part of My Canine Companion’s school therapy dog programme.

The Cork-based charity’s most recent research highlights the many benefits of therapy dogs in education settings, including wellbeing, anxiety, mental health, and morale among students and staff. These are themes that several young pupils touch on when asked about Winston.

“The best thing about Winston is if you’re feeling sad, he’s always there for a cuddle,” says Alfie Hindmarsh (7) from Strokestown. “When he comes to class, it calms everyone down,” adds Robert English, who is in sixth class. “He’s also good when we have movement breaks and we can take him for a walk. He’s half the logo of the school now.”

“It’s a lot nicer with him in the school,” is the verdict of Matthew Collum (11). “I can bring him for a walk at lunchtime, and I can pet him.”

For Donncha Connor (11), the fluffy Shepadoodle “brings joy” to the school. “If you’re having a bad day, you can go walk or rub him. When he runs, he bounces on his front paws and his ears go up,” he says, smiling.

Ella Treacy loves his calming effect when he is walking around the classroom, while for young Gracey Gill (5) he is simply “nice and fluffy”.

“Winston brings a smile to everyone’s face,” agrees principal Diarmuid Sutton, who jokes that he is known as Winston’s daddy locally. “He’s a big-time celebrity in this area. Everyone has a smile for Winston. Across Roscommon, he has gone to hospices, hospitals and other schools, so he’s very well known in the community.”

Service dog

Holding the pooch on a lead in the school office, he explains that the introduction of Winston was a wellbeing initiative following a trying time for many of the 95 students in the rural school.

“The children had been through a lot of grief, and there were a lot of scenarios where parents had passed away in families,” he tells Irish Country Living.

After hearing about the charity My Canine Companion, Ireland’s largest provider of therapy dogs, Diarmuid believed a dog would be “a lovely lift for everyone”, so with the backing of the board of management, he applied to be part of the project.

Originally from Thurles, Co Tipperary, he was very familiar with the idea of a working service dog, because a visually impaired neighbour, Billy Shanahan, had a guide dog when he was growing up, and he saw the impact it had on his life.

“They are not your pet; they are working dogs,” stresses Diarmuid, adding that from 9am to 3pm, when his neon bib is on, Winston is a staff member in the school. Therefore, he has a set of commands to follow, and kids follow a dog safety policy. Each child is trained on how to properly pet the dog and behave around him.

While he concedes there is a lot of work and commitment involved, for their school it has been very positive.

“You get him as an eight-week-old pup, and that’s the project – you have to mind him. He is the third child in our family,” quips Diarmuid, laughing. Winston goes home with him every night, and early on, he jokingly recalls his wife telling him at 3am that Winston was “his baby”.

As the designated handlers, he and another teacher, John Flynn, also underwent “seriously hard” training with Winston for a year before he officially became a working staff member.

“We were training him for a year, going up and down to Dublin every week, and that was a significant cost and investment.

“With the training, he met other dogs from My Canine Companion and they trained on buses, trains, walking in parks, in shopping centres, in coffee shops, so the dog from eight weeks old becomes familiar with the environment and people.”

Managing the dog in the school needs buy-in from everybody, and they have been very lucky in that regard from the start, he says in tribute. Thankfully, the staff were “dog people” and readily agreed to welcome a canine companion to the corridors. Parents also saw the potential and gave their backing financially to ensure there is no cost to the school.

“To be honest, Winston has been a community effort. The whole community has been involved,” he points out. “The parents fundraise for this – we have set up a Lotto and parents pay €2.50 a week or €10 a month to cover his upkeep. It’s €100 a month for grooming, €100 for food, and €50 for a vet, so you’re looking at €200 to €250 to have the dog.

“Without Lorraine Feeney, our secretary, the project wouldn’t work either. Winston takes his breaks here in the office, and Lorraine also takes him on his movement breaks and toilet breaks around the school,” he adds.

Canine colleague

The bond between Lorraine and Winston is so strong and heartwarming to see, says Diarmuid.

“He puts his head up on the desk when she is on the computer,” and as if on cue, Winston leans on the desk and looks over at the keyboard.

Asked to describe her canine colleague, Lorraine quips: “He doesn’t talk back to me. There is no arguing with him.”

A gentle and “highly intelligent” dog, Diarmuid reckons he can understand around 100 words and is constantly learning. He spends time in each class during the day, and he is part of a literacy programme where children come and read to him.

“He has a function to improve literacy in school. Children write stories and cards to him,” adds Diarmuid.

Indeed, several students use words like ‘playful’, ‘smart’, ‘fun’ and ‘calm’ to describe Winston’s personality when they speak to Irish Country Living. For teacher John Flynn, the impact of Winston has been very noticeable.

“He makes a huge difference. The kids are so happy coming in here in the morning. Winston greets them at the door and when they are going home in the afternoon. It’s so helpful.

“He goes into a classroom if a child is having a bad time; he can really light up their day. It’s amazing. We can see a big difference.”

There have been unforeseen benefits too, according to principal Diarmuid Sutton, who says their relationship with staff, parents and the local community is much stronger as a result of Winston at the school.

“I think he has had a bigger impact on the staff than I anticipated. He goes down to the staff room for the breaks and he brings a sense of calm to the working environment. He also breaks the ice with parents coming in the door. People love talking about dogs.”

See mycaninecompanion.ie