TAILS WITH A HAPPY ENDING
Therapy dogs help young children overcome their frustrations with learning how to read
Baker, a dedicated early-literacy volunteer, came to the library Saturday morning despite being exhausted by an 18-month-old at home. He was ready to sit down with children on the brightly colored rug and listen as they sounded out words and work through frustrations.
As it turned out, Baker did not last long. Soon after he sat down, he lay down. Once he lay down, his eyes started to flutter. He fell asleep.
Most volunteers would have been embarrassed, but not Baker, a 5-year-old boxer trained and certified as a therapy dog. The 18-month-old at home — a highenergy black Labrador foster dog whose clumsiness and energy earn him their owner’s affectionate label “bonehead” — was running him ragged. His eyes looked red, like a new parent enduring sleepless nights after a baby’s arrival.
Baker’s owner, Judith Moore, brought him to the Meyer Neighborhood Library in southwest Houston’s Westbury neighborhood so he could soothe children as they faced the trials and tribulations of learning to read. The program also aims to draw young families to the library despite competition from digital distractions like e-books, tablet games and kids’ TV shows that are always available on streaming services.
“We do a lot of outreach to just get people to come in to the library,” said Lauren Ray, a library specialist who works with chil-
dren and youth. The “Read with Paws-itive Pups” started about three years ago at the Meyer location and also operates at a few other Houston Public Library branches, including Looscan and Kendall.
Despite Baker’s drowsiness — and his repertoire of tricks that is actually limited to rolling over — he was a hit with a pair of young humans.
David Caceres, a shy 5-year-old with neatly combed hair, seemed to forget his self-consciousness as he read out loud to Baker from a book about sharks. David’s 3-year-old brother, Ben, was happily distracted by brushing Baker while David read to him.
“Kids who are shy about reading to adults will read to a dog instantly,” said Ronnie Forman, a retired teacher who now serves as a volunteer captain with the therapy-dog organization Faithful Paws, which also visits hospitals and nursing homes. “It actually makes kids want to read. This is how it starts, that love of reading.”
After all, the Bichon Frise owner asked with a touch of sadness, “How often do kids nowadays go into the library?”
Engaging young minds
The monthly event began at 10:30 a.m. Saturday with a few rhymes and accompanying hand motions. Each part of the program, even the seemingly silly ones like wiggling fingers in the air, contributes somehow to the push for early literacy. The finger motions develop fine motor skills, Ray said, which help the littlest kids prepare to hold books on their own and help the elementaryage students prepare to hold pencils.
After the rhymes, Ray read aloud to the group of 25 or so children and caregivers from a tall picture book, “Let’s Play in the Forest (While the Wolf Is Not Around).” The book’s premise is that other woodland animals will play while the wolf is busy dressing himself, including with some red underwear with white polka dots.
To encourage the young readers to engage with stories and form questions about the plot, she asked the occasional question.
“Have you ever seen a wolf wearing polka-dotted underwear?” Ray asked the kids, who found the question hilariously absurd.
A few pages later, when the wolf put on his socks, Ray asked if the kids had ever seen socks so big. No, they all agreed, they had not. But a little girl about 3 years old held up her feet for all to see and proclaimed, “I have little ones!”
Though the kids expressed their deep concern that the wolf would eat the other characters, the end brought a big reveal: The wolf eats pancakes, not friendly forest animals. All was well in the world.
Stars of the show
Just 20 minutes in to the hourlong program, it was time to introduce the real stars of the show — the canines.
The kids loved Gremlin, a short and squat dog who sounds a bit like a warthog.
“He’s really snorty and grunty, and he likes to lick people,” his owner warned. They sidled up to the Doberman Pinscher that towered over the youngest humans. Then there was Ernie, an 8-year-old terrier-chihuahua mix afraid of thunder, camera flashes and some people.
“He’s high-maintenance,” his owner acknowledged.
Ray knew she couldn’t compete.
“With the dogs being here, it’s a little bit of a fight for attention,” she said with a smile. “Like, I know the dogs are really cute, but give me five minutes.”
The canines seemed to help David overcome his shyness with adult humans, too. He wandered up to the Bichon Frise, BJ, who was nestled under a doggie quilt.
“Why does she have a blanket?” he asks Forman about her dog, striking up a conversation.
Then David wandered back to his mom where she was sitting on the rug with Baker and leaned over her shoulder like an ambulatory sack of potatoes. He was clearly ready to go home.
Working together
They retrieved Ben from the coloring table where he was hanging out with other kids. Ben showed his big brother the coloring sheet and crowed, “I made this!”
“How’d you make that so fast?” David asked, clearly impressed.
The boys’ mom, Monique Caceres, said she loves watching their relationship evolve. The older brother mostly tells Ben what to do, and Ben mostly does it, but they also work together on games and projects.
“The older they get, the more close they are,” she said. “We try to make sure they’re best friends.”
The three of them got in the checkout line with a stack of books, including an Eyewitness book about the Earth and “Catwoman,” one of the cat-related stories Ray had laid out on a table.
As they walked through the doors and left the dogs behind, Caceres said to her boys, “We need to come back every month.”