A poodle trained to detect when his owner is about to have a medical emergency is the undisputed "teacher's pet" at Thurgood Marshall Middle School in Scripps Ranch.
Susan Beisel teaches 7th grade science and doesn't leave home without her service dog named "Quincy" because of his ability to sense when she needs medicine.
"Similar to a diabetic with high blood sugar or a person with epilepsy, he senses my condition in advance and he signals me so I'm able to take my medication and not interrupt my day," said Beisel.
She declined to specify the chronic condition behind the painful episodes, but said they pop up about three to five times a year and can be easily avoided with preventative medicine.
Quincy spends most of his downtime sleeping behind Biesel's desk.
"He's just a pretty chill dog. He doesn't really do anything. Sometimes I don't even notice he's there," student Dallas Barksdale said.
And that's the way Beisel prefers it. She sets firm ground rules with her students at the beginning of the year to let them know they are not to call, pet or otherwise distract with Quincy during class.
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"He's here to do a job and if they distract him they put me at risk," Beisel said.
Quincy isn't part of any clique, but everyone knows he's the big dog on campus.
Beisel says he's planning on buying a motorcycle equipped with a sidecar fit for her one true teacher's pet.
