Lizzie – The Harvey’s School dog
Lizzie is our beautiful Hungarian Vizsla School Dog and has been attending school since she was 11 weeks old. Lizzie joined the school in January 2022, in which she quickly acclimatised herself to the sights and smells of the individual buildings and settled nicely into her extended home. Since that time, Lizzie has been in school every day with Mr Walton, our Site Manager, interacting with the staff and pupils. She thrives from all of the attention she receives and enjoys every minute of her time here.
The Hungarian Vizsla is an extremely affectionate breed, energetic, playful and keen to work at a moment’s notice. They have a sensitive, calm and gentle temperament which makes Lizzie a perfect fit for life at The Harvey.
The benefits of a school dog are vast. They can help to encourage pupils to develop a sense of responsibility, encourage confidence building and improve self-esteem, teach compassion and respect for other living things as well as relieve anxiety.
Lizzie has already carried out a lot of training with CFBA behaviourists and this will continue for some time.
Some of the roles Lizzie will be used for are basic training clubs with the pupils to work towards termly certificates, incorporation within our community offering comfort and support to our boys who may be in need of a cuddle, or just to interact with her 1-1 in a comfortable setting. In the future when Lizzie is fully grown, our boys will be able to work her through an Agility Course on our Pavilion Grounds, increasing that bond and relationship throughout their time at school. When Lizzie is fully trained we will also look to offer our pupils a chance to integrate Lizzie within our community, visiting Care Homes and local schools.