Teacher’s service dog joins classroom with students

By Shea Smith

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    BROKEN ARROW, Oklahoma (KJRH) — The start of the new school year is in full swing and students at teachers are getting back into the groove of the new semester. One local teacher has a new sidekick in her classroom.

Ms. Jadyn Means is a third-grade teacher in Broken Arrow.

And her students this year, have a special classmate, Minnie.

Means has battled severe allergies since she was 13.

She is highly allergic to peanuts and tree nuts, among other things, she may come in contact with.

Minnie, can sense those allergic reactions and alert means before she goes into anaphylactic shock.

“Within the last month she has been able to pick up what’s happening with my body and by smelling and licking my hands,” says Means. “So she has started to figure that out, roughly about three to five minutes before a reaction begins.”

Means has had Minnie since November. She says Minnie began training in January and finished in mid-March. She went through obedience training and then service animal training. Means says she has mild allergic reactions about eight to ten times a week.

And she has anaphylaxis sporadically.

She says Minnie is not just there for her and her students physically, but also mentally.

“The stress of knowing it can happen randomly has helped decrease because I know there is always someone there watching and protecting me,” says Means. “So I can focus on the students and my lessons.”

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