The way we work it, me or Sue Silverstein stand out in the hallway with Zinnia when the class bell rings and the kids who want to see her line up or kneel down, and those who don’t just walk on by.

Zinnia sits there wagging her tail, eager to receive her many fans. She is the WASP Princess after all. Some of the girls asked if she would like a massage or belly rub, and it turns out she did, very much.

Almost everybody smiles or laughs, which is sort of the point.

She lay on her side and back for ten or fifteen minutes while some students scratched her ears, rubbed her belly, massaged her neck. Zinnia ate it up, she didn’t move a muscle.

It’s hard work for Zinnia, but some dog just has to do it.