Wellbeing Dog
Jinkx the Wellbeing Dog
Jinkx is a bright, calm, and happy 4-year-old Shetland Sheepdog who has been working in a wellness role since she was a 16-week-old pup. Jinkx and her handler, Ms Martin, are currently working towards their full qualification as an Animal Assisted Intervention (Therapy) Team. Ms Martin is a teacher with over 30 years of experience in teaching in all year levels across several schools. Here at Xavier, they work together with the administration team and classroom teachers in a wellbeing and support role. Their role has them doing many things including general classroom and individual wellbeing checks, small group interactions and support (such as listening to reading, helping with writing and spelling) and participating in literacy and maths rotation groups. They also help the children build self-esteem, develop confidence, use effective communication skills, and develop a bank of breathing and calming techniques.



