SENDAI – About 20 students who had refused to go to school have been able to build their self-confidence by taking care of a candidate guide dog at their private high school since June.

Not only has the dog, an 11-month-old Labrador retriever named Elle, grown over the past nine months, but the students also have matured as a result of the experience. Seven third-year students graduated from the high school in Sendai on Monday and the dog will enter a guide dog training center this spring.

The students who are taking care of Elle attend the Sendai Campus of Clark Memorial International High School, a correspondence school with more than 50 campuses nationwide. Elle was brought to the school by teacher Sayaka Matsumura, 27, who volunteered to raise a candidate guide dog in the hope that caring for and training a dog would help stimulate students’ mental growth.

Puppies that are guide dog candidates usually are raised by volunteers at home for about a year. According to the Japan Guide Dog Association, it is quite rare that a puppy is brought up in a school setting.

The students were divided into three groups and took turns caring for the dog, including taking her for walks and feeding her.

One of the students, Asami Toda, a third-year student who had been a virtual shut-in for 10 years, went out on the streets with Elle and solicited donations to raise money for guide dogs.

“A few years back, I wouldn’t have been able to go out by myself onto busy shopping streets. I feel as if Elle has drawn me out,” Toda said. Spending time with the retriever aroused her interest in welfare and she decided to continue her education at a nursing care vocational school.

Ryota Fukuda, 19, a third-year student who entered the school in autumn after a history of refusing to go to school as a middle school and high school student, was the dog’s most earnest caretaker.

He is scheduled to enter a university this spring and aims to become a counselor. “Watching Elle’s daily growth, I’ve become confident myself,” he said.

Matsumura happily said, “Students have learned to build relationships of trust with Elle and their fellow students.”

Yosuke Suenaga, 27, who will train Elle at the guide dog association’s Sendai training center, said, “Elle has become a dog who likes to be with people, as she received a lot of affection from students.”

Elle is scheduled to return to the training center around May to undergo full-time training. Of the candidates for guide dogs, only 30 percent to 40 percent actually become guide dogs. But the students expect Elle to succeed.

Caring for dog helps former truants mature