Thunder offers unconditional love to students

Students are very comfortable walking in to see Thunder in Long Prairie-Grey Eagle Elementary Principal Tammy Cebulla’s office. Thunder is a new addition to the “staff” at the school. She is pictured above with Easton who just stopped in to spend a little quality time with her. Below; The children at Long Prairie-Grey Eagle Elementary School love their time with Thunder, an in-training therapy dog who recently joined the school.

by Karin L. Nauber

karin@inhnews.com

When you hear the word "thunder," you may imagine a storm with the crashing and booming of the power of lightening and thunder.

If you are a student at the Long Prairie-Grey Eagle Elementary School you are more likely to think of something else. Something more quiet, calming and soothing.

You would be thinking of Thunder, a female black lab dog, who has been very well accepted at the school in the past month or so that she has been coming to visit the children and even the staff.

Currently, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle Elementary Principal Tammy Cebulla is Thunder’s main handler at the school. Eventually, other staff members will also be handlers while Thunder is at school.

School Counselor Nicole Baso has also used Thunder’s calming services with children.

Thunder lives with the Cebulla family and stays in Cebulla’s office when she is not out with children. She is only at the school a couple of days a week at this time because she is in training.

She is going to training near Osakis and will be learning the duties of being a therapy dog.

She needed to be able to pass a good citizenship test which included knowing and obeying basic commands like sit, stay and heel.

Thunder was donated to the school by a family whose children attend there.

Why a therapy dog?

Cebulla explained.

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