Photo by Jeanna Duerscherl | The Roanoke Times

Angie Davis is preparing Ready with her family to help him pass his tests, one of which includes responding to the command 'help.' If he doesn't pass the tests, he may be adopted, but Davis said there is a waiting list.

One of Zeus' first stops after leaving Bland Correctional Center was Betsy Cook's first-grade class at North Cross School.

The students smiled and jumped out of their seats as Zeus walked through the door and lay on the floor.

"He had a hard day in prison yesterday," Angie Davis said of Zeus, a black Labrador retriever from the St. Francis of Assisi Service Dog Foundation.

Zeus had spent nearly a year with prisoners to train to become a service dog. Davis said she couldn't be more proud of his growth with the prisoners.

"They do a fabulous job, because they have so much time," Davis said of the prisoners training the dogs. "It's 24-hour training, and you can't get that anywhere else."

The dogs live in cells with prisoners, who receive instructions every week on guidelines for the dogs and a weekly agenda for the dogs' learning. Zeus had left the Bland Correctional Center for one week for exposure to public settings but returned to prison for more training.

Davis also brought along to the class Ready, a younger service dog with St. Francis of Assisi.

As Zeus sat behind a row of cubbyholes, Davis commanded Ready to sit and removed his orange vest with the sign "please do not pet." Then she allowed Ready to walk around the class and be petted by the students. A few of the children feared dogs before they met Ready and Zeus, Davis said.

Patrick Paly, whose mother was a substitute teacher in the class, was hesitant to pet the dogs, but he slowly stroked the top of Ready's head and smiled.

St. Francis of Assisi will spend nearly $25,000 to train each service dog to become a companion for a person with disabilities. The dogs, which are donated to the organization from breeders, go through two years of rigorous training including patience, obedience and alertness tests.

The service dogs' exposure to students at North Cross tests the dogs' alertness and obedience in an environment with multiple distractions, Davis said. Each dog must be prepared to handle any environment it may encounter with its partner, she said.

"Exposing the dogs to different environments gives you more information about what the dog can do and handle," said St. Francis staff trainer Elizabeth Broyles. "This also educates the public on service dogs and how beneficial they can be."

Davis said the students become more aware of the needs of others when they realize for whom the dogs are trained. Friends of her son, Kole Davis, even help train the dogs.

"It's great that this helps someone's life," said Harrison Macher, a North Cross fifth-grader and friend of Kole. "It's even greater that this dog is going to someone else who needs him."

Harrison said his family owns a dog, cat and lizards, so being around another animal is nothing new for him. But the exposure to Ready has given him a better understanding of what service dogs provide and the effect they have on people.

At home, Davis is preparing Ready with her family to respond to the word "help." It's one of the last things he must learn in order to pass one of two tests, which include the dog's correct response to more than 50 commands in a controlled and chaotic environment.

If Ready passes the test, he will be paired with a person with disabilities on the St. Francis waiting list for service dogs. He then will face two more tests to assure compatibility.

If he doesn't pass the tests, either because of health or behavior reasons, he may be adopted. But there's a waiting list for adoptions, Davis said.

Until Ready is ready to take his tests later this month, he will continue to attend North Cross with Davis for training, and the administrators and students are ecstatic to have him.

Liz Holt, director of North Cross' lower school, said they have introduced puppies and other small animals into the classrooms for nearly a decade. Having Ready present creates a welcoming, soothing atmosphere for both administrators and students, she said.

"The dogs have a calming effect on the children," Holt said. "Petting the dog and touching the dog makes this a very positive experience."