Every morning, special services teacher John Leonard faces a harsh reality in two somber, brown eyes. Every morning his dog Annie, Lawrence High’s therapy dog for the last two years, waits behind his pick-up truck, ready to make the journey she can no longer make. And every morning, he has to take her back inside and drive to Lawrence High School without her.

   “I had to pull her [out],” Leonard said. “This dog is a very sensitive dog, a very aware dog, and she picked up on behavior in the hallways, and it frightened her. She started hiding in Coach Hood’s class, and when we’d bring her out in the hallway, she’d act all spooky.”

   Because of hallway behavior Leonard characterized as “boisterous” and “aggressive”, Annie’s bearing changed. She exhibited the behaviors of a cornered animal. She began avoiding the hallways and growling occasionally.

   Reluctantly, Leonard had to remove Annie from Lawrence High.

   “All I can do is pull her,” Leonard said. “I have the power to say, ‘no, she’s not coming.’ I can’t change the hallways. That change has to come from within the school.”

   In her absence, she leaves a void far greater than her slender stature.

   “I love Annie,” librarian Martha Oldham said. “She was the therapy dog for me, and I miss her greatly. Annie had a calming effect on the kids and on people, and I think that individual kids are going to really, really miss that dog.”

   She was, in many ways, the perfect therapy dog for Lawrence High. She worked extensively with several students in the special education department and was a regular presence in the student services office.

   “Therapy dogs are here to provide comfort and to assist kids,” Leonard said. “She had a calming effect on a lot of kids. They’d stop and pat her in the hallways and talk to her. But now that’s gone. We can’t have an attack therapy dog.”

   The chances that Annie would have attacked a student are very slim. She wore a muzzle and had never exhibited any hostile behavior in the past. Leonard, a former dog trainer, attempted the rid Annie of her new habits, but to no avail. In the end, Leonard removed his dog in an attempt to balance two interests: those of his school and those of his dog.

   For Annie the change has been rough. Dogs are creatures of habit, and Annie’s daily routine has been disrupted. She no longer accompanies her owner to school, and she now spends the day alone.

or Leonard the change is not as difficult as it is disappointing. Without Annie to monitor, his work at Lawrence High is less exhausting, and he has more energy to spend on students. However, not having Annie by his side certainly has made an impact.

   “It’s tragic,” Leonard said. “I would very much like for people in the hallways to conduct themselves orderly and respectfully. We really don’t treat each other with kindness and dignity like we should. It’s a sad day when you can’t bring a therapy dog to Lawrence High.”

   However, Leonard recognizes that in the grand arena of high school life, his dog’s absence is merely a side effect of what he views as a greater problem. “Fifty years from now, that dog won’t make a bit of difference,” Leonard said. “Fifty years from now, I won’t make a bit of difference, but if we can set a tone where we can care about other people, then maybe that can carry and continue.”