WILTON, Iowa–As a high school junior, Madeleine Drake-Metzger started working towards her Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest badge scouts can earn, honoring those who complete projects that meet the needs of their communities. Initially, Drake-Metzger intended to train a rescue dog as a therapy dog. For about five months, she worked with Buddy, a year-old mastiff from It Takes a Village Animal Rescue and Resources with a calm temperament suited to therapy work. However, Buddy developed grave health concerns that led the rescue to euthanize him.
Deeply saddened by Buddy’s loss, Drake-Metzger paused her work toward her award. After taking a break, she decided to reframe her approach and use her project to honor Buddy’s memory. “After Buddy passed away, I honestly did not want to continue my project at all, as I was so devastated,” she shared. “However, I took some time to grieve the loss of Buddy, and I got to a point where I decided that I would finish my project for him, whatever that takes.”
Inspired to continue, Drake-Metzger chose a new dog to train as a therapy dog. She decided on her mother’s three-year-old Saint Bernard, Isa. As she observed, “what better dog to train than Buddy’s best friend, Isa?”
Though Isa already had basic obedience training, Drake-Metzger had to work with her to get her Canine Good Citizenship certification and develop the skills needed by therapy dogs. Drake-Metzger detailed, “we worked on extra things specific to therapy dogs such as sit-stays, down-stays, leave it, walking past other dogs, not reacting to loud sounds, approaching people, etc.”
Madeleine Drake-Metzger with Isa, the therapy dog. Photo courtesy Madeleine Drake-Metzger.
As a therapy dog, Isa can visit different groups, such as school children, hospital patients, and long-term care facility residents. Through her work, Isa helps raise spirits, even in difficult times, and allows people to socialize, even if they cannot go out. To improve people in Wilton’s mental health Drake-Metzger regularly takes Isa to several locations. “Isa visits three different local schools throughout the school week, along with at least one nursing home a month,” she said.
Drake-Metzger loves that she found a way to address mental health needs in her city, saying: “I think by training a therapy dog, my community now has more mental health resources. Mental health issues have been a huge issue for a long time, but especially with COVID, it has gotten worse for a lot of people.”
She also feels pleased to receive Girl Scouts’ most distinguished award. “I am so excited to have completed my Gold Award,” Drake-Metzger shared. “I am very proud to be a Gold Award Girl Scout and cannot wait to continue to show sustainability with my project in the future by training more dogs.” Her ongoing work will continue honoring Buddy’s legacy by giving more dogs chances to help others.
A Wilton Junior-Senior High School graduate, Drake-Metzger hopes to take the spirit of helping others she cultivated in Girl Scouts into her future career. She has plans to study nursing in the fall and to work as a nurse after she graduates.
