PICTURES: Pet therapy at school as Nairn Academy receives furry special visit from Saints Sled Dog Rescue
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NAIRN Academy pupils had some very "impawrtant" visitors at school earlier this month.
Representatives from dog charity Saints Sled Dog Rescue delivered a morning session in company with two of their Siberian huskies.
The charity is dedicated to rescuing and re-homing Siberian Husky and Alaskan Malamute breeds and volunteers Sandra and Graham Robinson came along with huskies Tulok and Tikanni.
Andrew Murphy, a teacher in one of the ASN (Additional Support Needs) classes said: "It was a fantastic morning, we all really enjoyed it.
"It was great to see the husky dogs and the children were so happy interacting with them.
"At one point one of the dogs started howling and the children were howled with him.
"It was a great morning, a lot of the children said they really felt the benefits of having the dogs at school, it relaxed them and especially for kids with anxiety it was very good."
The students were also able to see and practice how to attach a sledge to one of the dogs.
"We had small groups of children that came out and sat with the dogs. The dogs were so patient and well-behaved.
"Some children may find it easier to interact with dogs rather than adults so that was really great for them."
"It's really something we'd really like to do more often. If it was up to me I'd have a dog in permanently but we are looking into possibly having a therapy dog visiting on a few occasions."
He added that the school will be looking into organising a fundraising coffee morning for the charity in May.
