# Zorro The Dog



## testmg80 (Jul 28, 2008)

Everyday, students at one Walker county school see a four legged friend roaming the halls. But this isn't your average dog. He's kind of like a school therapist with fur.

His name is Zorro, a yellow lab trained and certified to be around children. Zorro does everything from listening to kids read, to stopping bullies in school.

School Counselor, and Zorro's owner, Jose Jimenez explains, "I can bring the child, that's the victim, and the bully together, and have them play a game of catch with the dog. It teaches the bully to cooperate with other kids, and it teaches the victim, to say, hey I can still try to be friends with someone who is picking on me."

Zorro has even been an ice breaker for kids who might need some help, like 4th grader Montana Shadrick.

"My family has been having some trouble," points out Shadrick. "He's real fun to talk to, because when you can't tell anybody else, a dog never tells your secrets."

Jimenez notes, "When the kid comes to see me, I'm expecting the kid to feel better, or I want them to feel better, there's an expectation there. When they come to pet the dog, the dog doesn't expect anything."

Jimenez contacted Canine Companions for Independence; filled out an application, and got approved to get the dog. Jimenez himself had to go through 2 weeks of training to know how to deal with Zorro. But talk to anyone at the school, and you'll know it's payed off.

Montana Shadrick sums up the feelings of most students when she says, "I think everybody loves Zorro."

Zorro The Dog | WDEF News 12 | News, Weather and Sports for Chattanooga and the Tennessee Valley


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