There is plenty of love and attention for the three Labrador retriever pups now at the front of Wimberley High School teacher Tiffany Black’s Career Technical Education classroom.
While cuddly and cute, Zinger, Zesty and Zam have a whole lot of class and homework too.
Once they graduate from Wimberley High, they will move on to advanced training to become full-fledged diabetic alert dogs. The high school is partnering with Freedom Canines International (FCI) to offer this unique learning experience to Wimberley High students.
Dogs in the classroom became a reality for Black after she applied for a Wimberley Education Foundation grant for funds to launch the initiative.
The nearly $3,000 grant pays for training and grooming equipment and toys. The dogs will be in Black’s classroom until mid-March, then they will accompany their handlers to enter all areas of campus.
“We just received our three pups and already our students have picked up some important techniques and tricks for training them. The puppies are very busy and bouncy, so our students really have to balance the right amount of attention they give them with the proper way to train them for their important service work,” Black said.
The Wimberley High team selected students Timothy “Zane” Shoebroek, Cassidy Heineman, and Skylar Hammond to be the handlers for the puppies. They are all students in the CTE small animal management and equine science class and are eager to make a difference through participating in this program.
“These puppies could save a life someday. They will be trained to alert their owner in case of a drop in blood sugar,” said Shoebroek, who is Zinger’s handler. “I feel privileged to have a part in training Zing to make a difference in someone’s life.”
All students who are in Black’s classes are learning how to help and handle the pups. FCI Instructor Todd Kier is working with them to make sure both pups and students adjust well to each other.
“We’re so glad to work with these bright, ambitious and service-minded students to train these pups. These young people are key to our mission of empowering people by providing them with greater independence and freedom,” Kier said.
