HARVEST CHRISTIAN ACADEMY SERVICE DOG
Elvis is HCA’s beloved therapy dog, and we’re so happy to welcome him back for his third year with us! He is specially trained as both a therapy dog and a service dog, and one of his important tasks is to provide deep-pressure therapy to help students feel calm and supported.
While Elvis gets to be a regular dog at home, when he’s at school — he’s working. Just like people have rules that help them do their best at work, Elvis has a few important rules that help him do his job safely and successfully.
Elvis visits students from preschool through middle school regularly and is available to high school students as needed. Best of all, Elvis is hypoallergenic, which means he’s a great fit for our school environment!
Fun Fact:
You might wonder why we ask you not to say his name when he’s nearby. That’s because “Elvis” is actually a command — it tells him to come. Only his handler should use his name when he’s working. You may hear us call him “Buddy” instead!
Bringing a dog into a school is not as easy as it sounds. Comfort and therapy dogs continue to grow in popularity for supporting mental health in schools, police departments, dentist offices, and more. We live in a society where many people struggle with anxiety, and animals have a unique way of easing our anxiousness. However, we don’t bring in just any dog—because this is not a pet. We want a highly trained dog. We want the confidence that this dog can serve the purpose of being petted by many students at once, providing needed comfort, and simply being present with students on a day-to-day basis. It’s also important to have a hypoallergenic dog.
Through this process, we learn the difference between a therapy dog and a service dog. Therapy dogs don’t have the same rights to access public spaces, so taking the dog on a field trip, for example, wouldn’t be possible unless we had a service dog. A service dog is trained for specific tasks and is also allowed to fly with their handler, which is important since the company we work with is based in Spokane, Washington.
Elvis has been with us since the fall of 2023, and we are thrilled to have him as part of our HCA family. He brings daily comfort, joy, and calm to our students and staff, and we are proud to provide this support to our school community.
We chose to work with Unleashed Academy because they were a highly reputable company known for producing well-trained service dogs. We interviewed with the company to ensure we were a good match for one another, and they were just as excited as we were about what Elvis could bring to our HCA community. Our hope was that this would inspire other schools to do the same—serve students’ emotional needs through the gentleness of a dog.
- Support the needs of Elvis using the Wish List below.
- To receive a tax-deductible donation, please see the link below to donate!
WHY A SERVICE DOG?
John Stotz was a friend to everyone. He was especially close to many of his classmates. John has attended Harvest Christian Academy, with many of the same peers, since he was three years old. He has attended Harvest Bible Chapel since in the womb. John’s heart has always been for the lost. It was his mission to tell everyone he came across about Jesus. If you knew John, you knew Jesus, because John was the hands and feet of Jesus–he lived this every day. John loved Jesus above all else but his love for sports and animals ran deep too. John knew just about everything and every player for nearly every sport. His head was so full of sports trivia that he could have given sports announcers a run for their money! John was passionate about animals, especially dogs.
His classmates shared the following about John:
“John was a light to the classroom. He never let anyone feel left out. He made everyone feel special. He loved Jesus more than anything and he wanted everyone to know about Jesus. Even when he could not leave his house anymore, he never stopped having hope that Jesus would heal him. Jesus did heal him but not the way we wanted and it’s okay because John is healed in heaven.”
“John loved baseball. When he got his tumor, he couldn’t play much. He had to stay home. But even though he was cooped up, he found other ways to glorify the Lord. He went to Target and got over 50 toys for lots of children in need. He made videos, sent gifts, and more. When John passed, everyone was mourning. Mr. Young had a great idea to bring dogs in to comfort us! John loved dogs.”
