Everyone loves Gracie

Everyone knows Gracie. Suzy Michel not so much.

But Michel is OK with that. She knows her nearly 3-year-old therapy dog is the attraction.

Michel is living out her retirement goal after spending 29 years as a guidance counselor at Thomas Jefferson Middle School in Port Washington.

“I always wanted a therapy dog. That was my mission from the beginning,” she said.

“I’m a very strong mental health advocate so this is what I would do when I retired.”

It has been a journey. Michel’s first attempt at

training a therapy dog ended when the lab mix Ellie May growled at another dog. Now, she is just one of her beloved pets.

Gracie, an English cream golden retriever, was nearly perfect from the start. She is from a pedigreed breeder in Indiana. Gracie’s litter was so special that the breeder kept all but three. Michel got the one that was deemed to be the best dog for therapy, and Gracie has triumphed in that role. She is so calm that Michel gets asked if her dog is drugged.

“She’s like an old soul. She’s always been calm,” Michel said.

That docile disposition, along with extensive training, has allowed Gracie to visit schools, hospitals, hospice and senior homes.

Her favorite spot is St. John XXIII Catholic School in Port. She has a bed in the office, a blanket and water bowl, both with her name on them, and the only toy she doesn’t chew to pieces, all provided by the school. Gracie also has her own mailbox that fills with letters from students.

Gracie visits on Wednesdays to a celebrity-like reception. Students in classrooms can be heard saying her name when they get a glimpse of the 73-pound canine strolling down the hall.

Her vest reads that she’s a therapy dog and that people should pet her, and students and teachers are happy to oblige.

But Michel has more missions for her fluff muffin than the soft touch. That alone can calm people young and old, but Gracie can help teach animal safety, be read to, do tricks and spread joy like she sheds hair.

“She puts a smile on everyone’s face,” Michel said. “They trust the dog. There’s a strong animal-human bond.”

That comes in handy for students having different forms of bad days.

“She’s an incredible resource, especially for anxious kids,” Principal Marie Lippe said.

Gracie is listed in the school’s staff directory, and she has been in school plays — once playing a goat — and at school festivals and events.

Wednesday visits to St. John XXIII is one of a few weekly stops.

On Tuesdays, she visits Lincoln Elementary in Port or Aurora Medical Center in Grafton. She heads to Port High on Fridays.

Gracie was quickly welcomed at the high school. She fell asleep on the principal’s feet the first time they met.

Gracie has books read to her at Lincoln Elementary and does tricks — high five, giving paw, spinning around to the right and left, and she can roll out a yoga mat.

At hospitals, Gracie visits the waiting room, emergency and orthopedic departments and makes sure she gets to everyone who is receiving treatment for cancer.

Nurses give her treats, and Gracie receives some of the relaxation she gives.

“One nurse gives her a massage. She will wait for him,” Michel said.

Gracie has visited Concordia University Wisconsin in Mequon and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to calm as many as 200 students during exam week.

Michel makes sure Gracie is ready for any type of encounter. She put her through the Pets Helping People program of Greenfield, along with Canine Good Citizen and Urban Good Citizen programs, the former teaching manners and the latter how to behave in community settings such as crowds, streets and steps.

Gracie will go through recertification every two years to keep her therapy dog status. Michel has a $1 million insurance policy on her as required for therapy dogs.

Michel likes to expose Gracie to otherwise bothersome experiences for dogs to get her used to them, such as motorcycles and fire trucks driving by. Michel has asked school families for obnoxious baby toys.

One of her tests was to walk past 35 imitation bacon strips twice without eating any of them.

Treats, however, are one of Gracie’s motivations. Michel wears a bag of goodies on a belt and often rewards her loving partner for doing well. Her favorite food is pizza.

Gracie works for 90 minutes to two hours at a time.

Michel is a member of the Association for Animal Assisted Intervention Professionals and is always looking to attend workshops and find new things for Gracie to do.

“I would love to use her more in the community,” Michel said. “We’ll walk downtown and everybody knows her.”

At home, Gracie and Ellie May are best friends, and Gracie helps the Michels’ blind 11-year-old terrier get around. The dogs get to run in a fenced in yard on the Michels’ 6.5-acre plot in Port. Working with animals and children is natural for Michel. She grew up with dogs in Shorewood, as well as her brother’s snake and squirrel monkey, who she would dress up and walk down the street.

“I was the only middle school kid with a monkey,” Michel said.

She also loves children. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Cardinal Stritch in psychology and sociology with a minor in education, then got a master’s in community development and program planning from the University of California, Davis. She earned a master’s in school counseling from UW-Milwaukee.

An internship in middle school hooked Michel on fifth-through-eighth-graders, and that’s where she spent her career.

Michel picked out the students who were driving teachers crazy.

“They always would turn around. It was just wonderful,” she said.

One student never said hi to Michel in the hall in sixth or seventh grade. In eighth grade, he gave up and greeted her. They stayed in touch through high school and college. He recently emailed about getting married.

Another former student texted after having a baby.

“It just warms your heart,” Michel said.

Now, she wants Gracie to help with those types of transformations.

For information on Gracie, email Michel at suzymichel10@gmail.com.