Pet Partners help B.U. students during finals

BLUFFTON – Dogs are the stars of the show this week at the Bluffton Public Library. On Tuesday, Max, an 11-year-old golden doodle, claimed a comfortable spot to lie down and take a rest. But Leo, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, was more interested in getting pets and belly rubs. "Cavaliers are like a Cavalier puddle," laughed Leo's handler/owner Meri Skilliter, who has two more of the breed at home. "You can't tell where one stops and the other starts. They're snuggle bunnies." Max and Leo are members of Pet Partners Therapy Animals, a national leader in demonstrating and promoting the health and wellness benefits of animal-assisted therapy, activities and education. In all, five of the organization's furry friends are spending time at the library to help Bluffton University students de-stress and chill out during finals week. Adult services coordinator Tanya Augsburger said Pet Partners collaborated with the library pre-COVID on storytimes, especially with the younger children. This time, she said, university students are the target audience. "And of course, anyone else is welcome to come in," Augsburger said. Students were few and far between Tuesday morning, but Augsburger said 16 Beavers attended the Monday afternoon session. The final gathering will be held from 3-5 p.m. today featuring Sam and Stella. Helen Bibler and her dog, Max, came from Lima for the program. Bibler explained that the breed of dog doesn't matter, but all of the animals are required to take an obedience test along with their owner. "It's just your basic commands. The dogs take a test every two years to make sure they're still able to go, there's no issues with them at all because they're not allowed to jump, bark, scratch, bite or anything like that," she said. In the past, Max has visited Allen East, Heritage Elementary in Lima and Elida schools as well as Lima Memorial Hospital. But since he's getting older, Bibler said they've cut back on their schedule to include Elida Schools; Elida, Lima and Bluffton public libraries; and Blanchard Valley Hospital. Both dogs are also part of the Critical Incident Stress Management Team, said Skilliter. The team is run by her husband, Rick Skilliter, who retired as the Bluffton chief of police. "It responds after a critical incident for police, fire and EMTs who respond to those incidents as well as to schools after a crisis," she said. "That's a human response, but we have about seven dogs on the team right now who also will go, primarily to the schools after a crisis." "I think Rick would say they do the job of 100 people," she added. "They break the ice. They relax people. They just make people smile like, oh, there's a dog at school today." Leo is a rescue dog who came from an Amish puppy mill. He was born with just one eye, Skilliter said. "We thought that would make him a great therapy dog and it's a great conversation starter with kids, like what happened to his eye?" she said. Leo, who is almost 3, weighs a tail-wagging 11 pounds. "That tail tells everything, right?" said Skilliter. She trained Leo, and then Skilliter and her husband both trained for the therapy designation. "If both of us are together, he listens to me. So I had to be in the car while Rick tested," she said. "He likes his mom." Max likes reading with children, said Bibler. "When the kids read to him, he just curls up with them, puts his head in their lap and just listens to them," she said. His visits also help children relax enough to talk if they're having issues. "We go on the first day of school because the kindergarten kids are all a little nervous. So I'll have maybe three or four leashes on him with two kids per leash walking him down the hall to their classroom because Max doesn't know where their room is. So they take him down and they relax that way. By the time they get to the classroom, they're fine," said Bibler. The crisis team, which covers Allen, Auglaize, Hardin, Hancock, Putnam, Mercer and Paulding county schools and businesses, has responded to about 60 call-outs this year, according to Skilliter. "And they said they could tell a difference when the dogs are at a crisis and when they're not because the kids talk more with the dogs. They just go over and sit around the dog and they just talk," Bibler said. "I've seen some beautiful things happen between the kids and dogs," added Skilliter. The dogs have attended mental health days and fun days at schools as well as suicide awareness events, she said. Both Leo and Max have also visited hospice patients. "We were at the hospital one time and the man was in hospice and he loved dogs. So we got a blanket and Max crawled up in bed with him. We were all in tears because this gentleman just responded so much to the dog," Bibler recalled. Skilliter said they once visited a patient who spent a long time petting Leo. He died the next day. The women agreed that those days can be hard. "But it's very rewarding," said Skilliter. "People let you in to their worst days. It's a privilege." Visit petpartners.org for more information about Pet Partners.