TOLEDO, Ohio — The Toledo School for the Arts has marked a new first - adding a therapy dog to their staff.
Winston is a 10-month-old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.
Winston's job duties include helping students who deal with anxiety, building social skills and providing companionship.
Ciera Ford, the school's counselor and Winston's mom, says they got the dog right after schools moved remote in March.
TSA received a grant for mental heath preventative measures. Ford says the school wanted to spend some of that money to train a therapy dog.
"They were totally on board with us getting a therapy dog. And in the virtual environment, it's been helpful for me as a counselor to build rapport with my students," Ford said.
Ford says Winston loves his job and gets excited to meet the teachers in the building and students online.
Winston is currently training at Talk Dog Toledo and will take his final tests to be a certified therapy dog in December.