Reading with Rover - practicing reading with therapy dogs

Earlier this week, I was asked to give a talk to the Providence County Kennel Club about Therapy Dogs who are reading dogs. I thought it also might make a great blog post too. I think when most people think about therapy dogs, they automatically go to those dogs who visit the hospitals, nursing homes, and assisted living facilities. My first rottweiler was a certified therapy dog with Therapy Dogs International and he and I did visit an assisted living home every week. When he passed, I missed sharing my dogs with people in that way. So, when it looked like Lars would have what it takes to be a therapy dog, I went and had him tested in 2010. 

Why I chose to specialize in this "branch" of the Therapy dog program is Lars adores children. He connects with them and will give them his undivided attention, which is a great quality for a Tail Waggin' Tutor. Being a reading dog runs in Lars' family! His full sister who lives in Texas visits children in the schools there. Lars and I visit the local public library here in Warwick, Rhode Island. Our scheduled visits were weekly during summer break and during Christmas and Spring vacation. During those breaks was when there was the most interest in reading with Lars. Unfortunately, we took this summer off because Lars was rehabbing from a shoulder injury and was on strict crate rest for most of the summer. 

Tail Waggin' Tutors is the official name for the therapy dogs who visit schools and libraries for Therapy Dogs International. The premise behind the Tail Waggin' Tutors is to give children an listener who will not judge them on their reading skills. Dogs won't laugh at  or make fun of a child who struggles with a word, or stutters. The dogs lay next to the child and offer quiet and attentive support as the child practices their reading skills. Children will start to associate working on their reading skills as a positive experience  instead of an experience that will create anxiety of having to be perfect for the listeners. As the children spend more  time  reading, their ability and confidence can improve which will make them enjoy reading even more. One additional benefit is that interacting with a certified therapy/reading dog, children who are uncomfortable or fearful of dogs can have positive associations with these dogs can better understand dogs.

The Tail Waggin' Tutor program isn't only meant for children with reading difficulties. Children who just enjoy reading have read to Lars just because they love dogs or they wish they could have a dog but can't for whatever reason. Lars did have many "regulars" who could come every week or every other week to practice their reading skills. We even had a couple of "pre-readers" who just wanted to share their picture story books with Lars by showing him the artwork in the books like "Good Dog Carl."

 (That is one thing to expect when working with your dog as a Tail Waggin' Tutor, you and your dog will listen to every dog related book in the Library. The most popular series was one called Harry and Mudge where the main characters were a young boy and his English Mastiff named Mudge who weighed in at 182. Since Lars is a big dog himself, the readers all felt that Lars should listen to the adventures of a fellow big dog.)

 How a reading dog session would work was we would arrive to the library for time block for a little more than an hour. The children would sign up for 15 minutes of time during the week. The Warwick Library had us visit in a room off of the children's section for 1) privacy for the readers so they could practice reading to Lars without other children they didn't know present. 2) The time blocked could be respected and managed. The children had the option to sit in a chair and read a book to Lars or they could sit on the floor and read to him. Most chose to read in the chair and have Lars on the floor. Sometimes siblings, other relatives, or friends would come and share time blocks. The Parents were welcome to stay with their children when they read. Some stayed, some would leave the room and watch their other children in the library. Sometimes if the child had time left over, they could chose a short book or didn't want to keep reading, we would talk about Lars and other things he did outside of the library. Or, I would make him do some tricks, or they could sit , pet Lars and talk with him.

Reading to children was a rewarding to Lars as it was to me. I would say "Are we going to go to the library?" and he would get really excited about his "job". He would come into the library and make a direct path to the upstairs where the children's section is. Lars would make an effort to connect with the children the first couple of minutes of meeting them. He would kiss them and greet them in his own way. The first couple of minutes, both Lars and the kids would be all excited and then they would settle into reading time. Lars would do that with each new reader or group of readers who came in. I enjoyed seeing the regular kids on weekly or bi-weekly visits. It was really neat to see some kids who had confidence issues find their voices over the summer and go from reading in a small meek voice to reading out loud with enthusiasm. Some children who did have some significant issues with reading did read to us and it really made me grateful I could share my dog with them and give them a "safe and judgement free" environment to practice and try to improve their reading.

I'm hoping to get back to the reading dog visits with Lars this Christmas break. If you are looking for a career with your therapy dog, really consider doing the Tail Waggin' Tutor program if you are with TDI. Pet Partners (formally known as Delta) also has a reading dog program for their volunteers. If you need more information about pursuing therapy dog work, you can visit - Therapy Dogs International