Pittsburg ? When things get a little tense at Project Alternative, a facility for emotionally disturbed teens, they call in a trained therapist to calm the situation.

The therapist has four legs, a cold nose and big, loving brown eyes. His name is Mississippi, and he’s a golden retriever.

He’s a staff member at both Project Alternative and the Special Purpose School, for children with disabilities. Both are located on the campus of Parsons State Hospital and Training Center.

When he’s not on duty, he lives with Lowell Alexander, Project Alternative principal, in Frontenac.

Alexander said he decided to try for a therapy dog after an acquaintance at a special school in Independence, Kan., suggested it.

“He said that their therapy dog had worked out well, and recommended that we get one,” he said. “Mississippi is the first therapy dog for Greenbush-Southeast Kansas Education Service Center, and Greenbush helped me get him.”

He has had Mississippi since Oct. 17.

“He was trained through the CARES program by an inmate at a correctional institution, I’m not sure which one,” Alexander said. “Mississippi was donated to the program by a woman in Missouri when he was a puppy.”

Mississippi turned 2 in January.

Lowell Alexander uses his therapy dog Mississippi, a 2-year-old golden retriever, in his work at Project Alternative and Special Purpose Schools in Parsons. The dog has had special training in calming and soothing distraught humans.

Alexander went to Concordia for a week to learn how to work with the dog. He also spent some time with the inmate who trained Mississippi.

The dog had already been given his name. “The dogs were given unusual names, like foreign cars or rivers,” Alexander said. “There was a dog that Mississippi liked to play with, and his name was Nissan.”

Mississippi was taught all the usual doggie commands – sit, stay, and so on – with special training in calming and soothing distraught humans.

His personality, of course, is an important factor in his ability to do his job. “Mississippi just loves people,” Alexander said. “He’s a real love bug.”

Each morning, the dog is assigned to a different classroom at Project Alternative. He later goes on to the Special Purpose School.

“I don’t feed him in the morning before we leave, so the kids feed him and groom him,” Alexander said. “We try to teach them how to work with him and use the proper commands.”

He said that, on average, Mississippi is called in two or three times each day to calm students who have lost control.

“The school staff knows his schedule, so they know where to find Mississippi,” Alexander said. “What they usually do is vacate the classroom, then send Mississippi in to work with the student. He’ll go up to the student, and before you know it, the student will be petting him and calming down. I’ve told the kids that they can feel free to tell Mississippi all their problems.”

And, as a good therapist should, Mississippi always keeps everything said to him strictly confidential. “He has never, ever told me anything a student has said to him,” Alexander said.