A furry snout and a friendly paw strengthen the connection between Fossil Ridge High School teachers and students.

Roxy, owned by Fossil English teacher Kristin Rust, and Lexie, who belongs to Counselor Carolyn Fries, have been trained as certified therapy dogs to tend to humans’ emotional needs.

For many people, dogs provide emotional relief and comfort that is hard for human interaction to replicate. Rust said she was inspired to train a therapy dog after she heard of a Rocky Mountain High School counselor bringing their dog into school. The decision was easy because of Rust’s personal history.

“Most of the time I was growing up, and most of my time as an adult, I’ve had amazing dogs,” Rust said.

Roxy earned her therapy dog certification through the American Kennel Club, where she excelled at the most important aspects of being a therapy animal.

“Being pet is Roxy’s favorite thing ever,” Rust said. “Other dogs would struggle with some of the skills that were taught in class, but Roxy would have no problem with them.”

Roxy has helped many students feel more comfortable after three successful years as one of Fossil’s therapy dogs, Rust said.

“A student that had been having a hard time coming into class was able to curl up with Roxy and relax in class,” Rust said. “It was a student that hadn’t responded to other things but really connected with Roxy.”

Fossil senior Noah Nguyen has felt the success of Roxy’s mission to calm students and provide comfort during potentially stressful situations.

“Some of the meetings that we’ll have for theater can be stressful at some points,” Nguyen said. “Having Roxy there kind of calms those nerves and eases people’s stress.”

On a more general scale, Roxy’s goal is to bring joy and humor to the student body and places where they may be lacking.

“Roxy’s presence is very calming to a lot of students,” Nguyen said. “I feel like she just brings a positive energy to the environment.”

Roxy is not a lone wolf at Fossil. Fries brings her 9-year-old dog to school each day. Fries mentions how her own positive experience with dogs led her to put her boyfriend’s dog, Lexie, through therapy dog training.

“I think every day, going home and having somebody be excited to see you is great,”  Fries said.

Lexie is not only cute, but she also helps Fries provide therapy when needed.

“A student was up here having a rough day, and so Lexie just laid down and let the kid pet her,” Fries said. “The kid was telling me about her dog that kind of looks like Lexi, and how they just provide a calming presence.”

Roxy and Lexie also improve student-teacher relationships through a shared love of dogs.

“I think the dogs add a lot of personality,” Fries said. “It is a reason for students to come by and see us, which is cool.”