Bow Memorial School is excited to share that we have a therapy dog . Our dog is named August Dean but we call him, among all sorts of things, “Gus” for short. He is a black Field Labrador Retriever and was donated by Maya Snyder from Foxbend Labs in Hillsboro, NH. Gus’s line of breeding has dogs working in law enforcement, fire investigation, and compassion roles throughout New England.

Gus is being trained and handled by Kelly Ardita, Student Services Coordinator at Bow Memorial School. Although Kelly has experience in training other working dogs, this is her first experience with a Lab. They have built an impressive bond and she is excited to share Gus with the school community. Gus lives with Kelly and her family at their home in New Boston, NH.

Gus spends time with students and faculty at BMS typically on Fridays. During school he visits classrooms, spends time with small groups of students, and eats more than his fair share of dog treats. He is particularly fond of the BMS cafeteria during lunch where he watches  On non-school days, Gus attends training and social groups with other dogs so that he can learn how to “dog” and be a well rounded, social working and therapy dog.

Outside of school, Gus has worked hard to train for his therapy dog certification as well as other AKC certifications. His current therapy dog  certification  is through the Alliance of Therapy Dogs and you can check out their website by clicking here.

He also holds AKC certifications in the areas of AKC Basic Pet, AKC Canine Good Citizenship, and AKC Advanced Canine Good Citizenship. He is currently working toward his AKC Urban Canine Good Citizenship title. You can read more about these certifications by clicking here.