Bernie Ponzio and her golden retriever therapy dog, Hopalong Cassidy, live in Grand Prairie and travel around to different locations to provide support and comfort to people of all ages. Â Cassidy was born without a heartbeat, but was able to be brought back to life with CPR from vets at Texas A&M. Â The breeder wanted to put Cassidy down because he was born without a front right paw. Â Without hesitation, Bernie adopted Cassidy and trained him to be a therapy dog. Â Good Elementary was lucky enough to get to meet Bernie & Cassidy.
Cassidy has now learned to walk with a prosthetic leg.  Bernie uses Cassidy as a platform to reach out to students with disabilities, special needs, or those that feel they don’t quite fit in.  Bernie says that Cassidy will go to schools and help students who have trouble reading and will sit and listen to them read.  Cassidy is the sweetest dog and our students and staff could not get enough of him!
Thank you for visiting Good Elementary, Bernie & Cassidy!