Ngutu College From George's View

Everyone knows and loves George, but what does he do for the school, and what does a day look like from his perspective?  

We asked George "What do you do George?" And in return we got a funny look. George is currently in his second year at Ngutu college. He has a different day every day, but usually spends Ninku Tirntu time playing with his toys, and with young people from the college. George often attends one to two classes each day, he sometimes works with a couple of kids in small groups or one-on-one so that he can help support the kids in the best way possible. George can help make young people at Ngutu College happy by playing with them, making them smile, and even helps them relax by "sitting on them or them patting him or giving him hugs".  

Unlike George, Amber gave us answers to our questions. We asked her what she enjoys about working with him, and what they do together.  Amber is now the only trainer that George has currently, but George came through an organization that works with and trains therapy dogs. We asked Amber what her favourite part of working with George is, "he is always happy to see me, and he gives me the best greetings. We get to hang out with lots of different kids and lots of different classes and we get to go on excursions." Is what she told us.

Although George is a member of the Ngutu College staff, he is still a dog and can be rather cheeky.  When he first started working at Ngutu College he was very young and although he had been through training, Amber said "He was not very well trained at the start, so he wasn't doing a lot of therapy, he was just doing a lot of being naughty." George is especially naughty around food, it's his weak spot. You can often find George attempting to stick his head into a bin, trying to find some food inside of them. He isn't picky when it comes to food but two of his absolute favourite treats are toast and sandwiches. This means he has to stay away from the café in Ninku Tirntu time while breakfast club is on. "Once he ate a sandwich while it was still in its zip lock bag and then he had to be taken to the emergency vet to vomit it up."  This was only last year so he was only one year old. "Sandwiches are so delicious we also eat the zip lock bag." Amber told us.  

 If you have any funny George stories, please share them in the comments! We'd love to hear them!  

Written by Macey B and Katie K 

Photography by Macey B