If you have been to a Subaru dealership in the past few years, you may already be familiar with Izzo, the canine half of this month’s featured therapy team. “His photo is large in all the Subaru dealerships,” explains Megan Thie, Izzo’s owner and therapy partner. In the photo, the Labsky looks relaxed as his outstretched head is perched on the rear view mirror, soaking up the beauty of an autumn drive.
But Izzo wasn’t always so calm. “Izzo was a wild child as a puppy and we went through a lot of obedience courses,” explains Thie. But with his outsized personality also came a huge love of children. “He’d try to pull me towards them when we’d walk on the Monon Trail,” recalled Megan.
This gave Megan an idea. Her mom is a 3rd grade teacher, so what better place would there be for Izzo to release his energy than in a room packed with kids? As a result, Izzo and Megan began visiting her classroom occasionally and still do to this day. These visits bring Izzo so much joy that you can see him physically “smile”, according to Megan.
Izzo and Megan have been volunteering for Paws & Think for the past year and a half. As the child of a teacher and a lifelong lover of reading, Megan enjoys visiting other schools with Izzo to get kids excited about reading and strengthening their literacy skills.
However, Izzo has been known to be a bit of a workaholic at times. Megan recalls one time when the pair was working at the FINA World Junior Swimming Championship, talking to kids around the globe about competitive swimming and dogs. After an hour and a half of visiting, Megan attempted to leave with Izzo.
Izzo wasn’t having it. “He laid down in the exit of the building, howled ‘husky talk’ at me, and drug me back inside.” And even after one victory, Izzo still had some fight in him. When Megan left for the second time, Izzo sprawled out on the parking garage floor in one last attempt to stay even longer.
But all of the joy the pair gets from volunteering is well worth those occasional moments of stubbornness. “I’m always proud to share that Izzo is a therapy dog with the largest locally based therapy organization in Indiana,” said Megan.
