THUNDER BAY -- Seven weeks of anticipation came to a head for Nor'Westerview School primary students on Friday as puppies they've been supporting showed up in their classrooms.
The children could barely contain their simmering silence as teachers carried the five Paws For Love puppies from northern communities into the library, one by one.
Back in their classrooms, they sat in circles as the dogs made the rounds of patting and hugs.
Since Elliot, Hank the Tank, Mini-Mazie, Bella and Bentley (who is also known as Mr. B.) were born, Grade 1 to 3 students have been looking at the puppies' baby pictures as they learned about pet ownership and responsibility as well as vetrenariary medicine.
"Some of the kids had fostered dogs on their own, some had adopted from our program so they were really smart kids and they listened,"said Paws For Life volunteer and dog foster parent Kristine Barr.
"Everything I told them, you'd think kids would be so excited but they listened because they just wanted to hear every word we said about the dogs."
The organization was responsible for helping 300 dogs to find "forever homes" in the last year and Barr was investing in the future of pet ownership when she teamed up with her neighbourhood school. The connection students built to the puppies in their imagination was so strong, Barr said, they even gave gifts to puppies they hadn't met before.
"We've had kids that for their birthday parties have sacrificed the gifts and have asked kids for donations for Paws For Love in lieu of a birthday present. How awesome is that?" Barr said.
"What a testament to this city to have these kids really, truly step up to the plate and say, 'you know what? We care.'"
Grade 3 student Gavin Kierstead has two dogs at home, both of which are bigger than Elliot, the pup he and his classmates played with on the last day before the holiday break.
"Paws For Love is pretty much like taking care of a dog before it gets adopted, kind of like a vetrennarian. The thing about that is you have to take care of dogs before they get adopted so they can still have a nice home. In the winter they can be warm and cozy and have a nice life."
