Students at Ransom Everglades in Coconut Grove are putting their phones down for belly rubs.

Heel 2 Heal Therapy Dogs, a South Florida nonprofit known as H2H, brings certified therapy dogs to the school's campus. Director of counseling Isis Perez-Gonzalez says the animals get an instant reaction. Student Nica Rosenberg wrote about the program in an opinion piece in The Catalyst, the school's newspaper, published Nov. 4.

Perez-Gonzalez told The Catalyst that students walking through the halls are usually glued to their screens. But "when they see the dogs, they put their phones down immediately and have the urge to pet," she said. Within seconds, students drop to their knees for a handful of fur.

The visits tie into the school's broader screen-time efforts. During an unplugged day at Ransom Everglades, students showed they would willingly set aside their phones when given something else to do, like spending time with a dog, Perez-Gonzalez told The Catalyst.

Student overcomes fear of dogs

Annie Minick, a Ransom Everglades student from the class of 2027, told The Catalyst that therapy dogs changed her relationship with animals. She once feared dogs would bite or hurt her and kept her distance throughout middle school when visiting friends who owned them.

That changed on campus.

After regular encounters with H2H dogs at Ransom Everglades, Minick said, "… after seeing them on a consistent basis, I've learned to love dogs, and I've even tried to convince my parents to get one."

How H2H started

Kelly Rounds, Deborah Snyder and Brian Galea co-founded Heel 2 Heal in 2018, according to the organization's website. Since then, H2H has guided dog owners toward therapy dog certification, connected volunteer teams and helped facilities establish their own programs. The group expanded to North Carolina in 2021.

Rounds, a former publicist for the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in New York City, does therapy work with her Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Teddy. Galea serves as H2H's resident trainer and is a certified professional trainer and canine behaviorist.

Snyder told The Catalyst that H2H's dogs create instant connections and help de-stress groups. H2H sends therapy dog teams to schools, hospitals, care facilities and community spaces across South Florida, including Ransom Everglades.

Minick, the former skeptic, is now trying to convince her parents to get a dog of her own.