Kids read, dogs listen

MELISSA MACKEY

Staff Writer

Woofie is a good lis­tener who loves to be read to, espe­cially if the sto­ry­teller scratches his belly and feeds him treats every few pages.

A 7-year-old giant schnau­zer, Woofie will be part of a spe­cial read­ing dog pro­gram at down­town Delaware’s Bee­hive Books, 25 N. San­dusky St., Delaware, where he and his other canine good cit­i­zens, Stella and Aston, will sit qui­etly while chil­dren read to them.

“Chil­dren love spend­ing time with atten­tive, furry friends who won’t judge them if they stum­ble over a word or don’t under­stand a pas­sage,” said Laura Pakis, the owner of Acme Canine who is putting on the event. “Read­ing improves as the child relaxes, and the adults are there to help with pro­nun­ci­a­tion and comprehension.”

After hear­ing a ther­apy dog read­ing suc­cess story about a for­mer employee’s son, Pakis wanted to develop her own pro­gram at her Lewis Center-based organization.

The dog and its owner takes a six-week class that teaches them to sit politely, hold a book page with their paws and react gen­tly with chil­dren. The own­ers learn how to help kids with read­ing skills.

Dur­ing the Bee­hive Books event, the dog will be accom­pa­nied by its owner who will coach the child and the dog. The action is always directed back to the dog, such as if the child is hav­ing trou­ble pro­nounc­ing the word, the han­dler will say, “Can Woofie help you sound out that word?”

Pakis said she has taken the dogs to branches of the Colum­bus Met­ro­pol­i­tan Library, as well as other libraries and bookstores.

Stella, less than a year old, is a bea­gle mix and owned by Acme Canine trainer Chris Debord. Aston, 2, is a res­cued Dober­man and is owned by Acme Canine trainer Jenna Augen­stein. All three dogs went through the first round of Acme Canine ther­apy read­ing dog train­ing, Pakis said.

Those inter­ested in train­ing a read­ing ther­apy dog should have a dog that likes to be around peo­ple. The dog’s owner should also have a pas­sion for read­ing and like chil­dren. The dog can be of any size, and it doesn’t mat­ter if it’s eas­ily excitable; that’s a behav­ior that the classes can mod­ify, Pakis said.

The classes are $225 and involve tak­ing a writ­ten and prac­ti­cal exam. Dogs and own­ers receive a read­ing bag and jour­nal, as well as tips and advice. Debord also teaches a read­ing por­tion of the class, so the han­dlers can help chil­dren with any issues. Ther­apy dogs can attend monthly meet­ings to share ideas, books and review the program.

“Well-behaved dogs are not born, they’re trained,” Pakis said.

Each child, ages 6 through 12, who attends the event at Bee­hive Books will spend about 10 to 15 min­utes read­ing with a canine pal.

“As a dog lover myself, I think this is a won­der­ful way to help chil­dren read,” said Mel Cor­roto, owner of Bee­hive Books, in a writ­ten release. “There’s no bet­ter way than to spend the dog days of August curled up with a book and a friendly canine at our store. We hope to get kids excited about read­ing and ready to go back to school.”

To reserve a spot for a child or for more infor­ma­tion, call Bee­hive Books at 740–363-2337.

Posted by Melissa Mackey on Aug 5 2011. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS Feed. Comments can be made below.