
Friends With Paws is an initiative of the Communities In Schools (CIS) West Virginia nonprofit in collaboration with Governor and First Lady Cathy Justice. It is West Virginia's statewide school therapy dog program, built around in-depth research and professional training methods. It is a collaboration between the Office of the First Lady and the West Virginia Department of Education.
Each Friends With Paws therapy dog is trained extensively at Ultimate Canine in Westfield, Indiana, where owner Julie Case has created a state of the art 20 step temperament test to evaluate and identify the in-born natural traits of dogs. With over 28 years of experience testing thousands of puppies and dogs around the world, Julie and her staff are able to determine if certain dogs could become school therapy dogs in the future.
Since therapy dogs are working with students, great care is taken to ensure that the dogs are trained at the highest level by one of the top therapy dog organizations in the country. Prior to coming to West Virginia, each therapy dog is highly trained and certified to show their ability to work in stressful environments, ignore distractions, manage crowds, and provide therapy to people with diverse backgrounds and circumstances. In addition, they have hours of experience traveling to places with large amounts of people so that they can practice and hone their skills. Each Friends With Paws therapy dog is specially trained to respond to trauma while providing comfort, support, and love to our state’s students. Therapy dogs can also be avid “listeners”, providing an audience for children who have difficulty reading aloud in front of an entire class. The student practices reading to the dog so that they are able to gain confidence reading aloud.
As of October 2024, 40 therapy dogs have been placed in CIS schools across the state.
Coal - Welch Elementary sChool, McDowell County

Foster - Buckhannon Academy Elementary School, Upshur County


Jasper - Lewis County High School, Lewis County

River - Pineville Elementary School, Wyoming County


Shadow - Moorefield Elementary School, Hardy County
Jet - Spring Mills High School, Berkeley County
Kylo - Lenore Pk-8 School, Mingo County


Winnie - Wayne Elementary School, Wayne County
Kasha - Green Bank Elementary-Middle School, Pocahontas County
Marshal - Hinton Area Elementary School, Summers County


Louie - Bridgeview Elementary School, Kanawha County
Oakley - Oakvale Elementary School, Mercer County


Ruby - Greenbrier East High School, Greenbrier County


Malfoy - Chapmanville Intermediate School, Logan County


Tora - Elkins High School, Randolph County


Skye - Berkeley Springs High School, Morgan County


Penny - Pendleton County Middle/High School, Pendleton County


Nutter - Ravenswood High School, Jackson County


Meadow - Washington Lands Elementary School, Marshall County


Clara - Brooke Middle School, Brooke County


Parker - Wheeling Park High School, Ohio County


Pixie - Lewisburg Elementary School, Greenbrier County


Captain - Sherman High School, Boone County


Eli - Nutter Fort Primary School, Harrison County


Opera - West Fairmont Middle School, Marion County


Maverick - James Monroe High School, Monroe County


Molly - New Martinsville School, Wetzel County


Barney - Parkersburg High School, Wood County


Coco - Calhoun Middle High School, Calhoun County


Prim - Davis Thomas Elementary/Middle School, Tucker County


Joey - Petersburg Elementary School, Grant County


Jax - Richwood Middle School, Nicholas County


Chloe - Doddridge County High School, Doddridge County


Flora - Spencer Middle School, Roane County


Farley - Pt. Pleasant High School, Mason County


Boaz - Gilmer County Elementary School, Gilmer County


Moose - Hampshire High School, Hampshire County


Goldie - Keyser Middle School, Mineral County


Gia - Belington Elementary and Middle School, Barbour County


Comet - Jefferson High School, Jefferson County

