Cali is an award-winning therapy dog who works with high school students. Together with her dog mom, Sherri Rusch, the pair has helped hundreds of children. When a mishap at home with another dog leaves her fearful of walking on smooth floors, her job as a therapy dog in a school setting (where slippery tile floors are the norm) becomes increasingly challenging. Fortunately, Sherri tracks down the answer: ToeGrips® dog nail grips. Read about Cali and watch the video Sherri made of the therapy dog’s happy ToeGrips® dog nail grips transformation.
Meet therapy dog Cali
Cali’s calm temperament was perfect for becoming a therapy dog. At three months old, she was already retrieving the morning newspaper. When Cali was old enough, Sherri took her to Pet Partners Delta Society for therapy dog training evaluation. When Cali was six months old, Sherri read an article about therapy dogs working in school districts to help students. She shared the article with the school principal.
“It was the perfect storm,” said Sherri. “I had the perfect dog, the perfect principal and the perfect job in the school for a therapy dog. My principal said yes to Cali joining me in the classroom.”
When Cali received her registration, she immediately began work alongside Sherri. Cali loved what she did for the students and looked forward to going to school every day.
Therapy dog Cali becomes fearful when walking on smooth floors
Cali worked for several years without any problems, until one day a minor incident at home with another pet left the dog shaken and apprehensive about walking on tile and other slippery surfaces. Sherri thinks one of her other dogs accidentally caused Cali to slip on the ceramic tile in her home and the ordeal had a lasting impression.
The school’s slippery tile floors were particularly intimidating for Cali
Soon after, Cali’s fear escalated to being afraid of walking on any slick surface, including the ones at school. The dog would come to work and try her best to avoid walking on any tiled areas and only stepped on the carpet at school. Sherri realized her poor dog was suffering.
For a time, Cali wore boots for traction on slippery tile floors
Sherri found dog boots that helped her therapy dog have more confidence walking. That seemed to solve the problem for a while. Then Cali developed a tumor on her dew claw that had to be surgically removed. She wasn’t able to wear her boots and the pair was back to square one in solving Cali’s fear of falling.
Cali’s confidence is restored with ToeGrips® dog nail grips
Then in 2012, Sherri met integrative veterinarian Dr. Julie Buzby. Together they decided to make Cali one of the prototype models for ToeGrips® dog nail grips. From the moment she first wore them, Cali loved the nonslip grips. They restored her confidence to walk on slippery floors.
“The ToeGrips changed Cali’s life. She couldn’t continue to do her job without them,” said Sherri.
Watch the smile-bringing video Sherri made of Cali walking for the first time at school wearing ToeGrips® dog nail grips:
A special “thank you” to Sherri and Cali for their dedication to special needs students
The ToeGrips team is very proud of Sherri and Cali for their dedication to special needs students. In 2008 Cali won the prestigious Delta Society “Beyond The Limits Award.” It is an international award for “animal assisted therapy dogs with a practicing professional.” Honorees were chosen from over ten thousand registered Pet Partners teams, representing 13 countries.
More about Cali and Sherri’s work as therapy partners
- Sherri and her Labrador retriever Cali have been therapy partners since 2007. Most of that time has been spent in Missouri classrooms where Sherri worked as a high school speech language pathologist. Many of the students Sherri worked with were on the autism spectrum, had Down Syndrome, Asperger’s Syndrome, and other conditions that made it difficult for them to speak.
- Cali assisted Sherri in a variety of ways. Sometimes she is the reward, to be patted on the head when a student performs a task correctly. Other times she becomes the student when the kids practice their speech skills by giving Cali commands like sit and stay. She is the dog the kids hug when they are having a bad day, the friend who gets them to interact with peers as they walk her on a leash in the hallway, and she is the constant classroom fixture that gives the students confidence and calms their nerves.
“The students think of Cali as their dog,” said Sherri. “She doesn’t judge them like their peers. When Cali first came to work with me some of the students thought I was blind because that’s the only therapy dog they had seen, but now they understand what she can do for them.”
“Cali has worked miracles. We had one student with Down’s syndrome who was afraid of dogs. She saw Cali and ran out of my classroom. I convinced her to come back and Cali stayed under my desk for the next couple of months. By the end of the year, Cali had worked her way into the girl’s heart and she was walking her on a leash and tossing a ball to her.”
- Cali’s job has expanded. In addition to working with special needs kids, Sherri‘s speech pathology skills have taken the duo in a new direction teaching at-risk high school students. Sherri says Cali is doing the same great job and the kids love having her in the classroom.
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