Turns out, that morning (Friday 6/29), they called and said the dog was sick and couldn't come in, but they were rescheduling it for Monday. The cool part was they had 2 spots to offer us. (20 minutes each) So, each child was now going to be able to read at least 2 books to Catalina, the black lab.
These service dogs go through a 16 week training course before they can test to be accepted into the work program. They sit in the room with their owner(s) and the child and just listen to the child read a story or two to them. The owners are there to help coach the kids if needed, but really, it is all about reading to the dogs. Dogs don't judge. Dogs make good listeners. And, Catalina seems to really enjoy hearing stories and looking at pictures. It was really cute.
I stayed outside that morning and took a couple pictures through the window. Catalina had 2 owners with her, so the woman sat to the side and held the kids' books. When it came time to read one, she called Catalina over and gave the dog the book in her mouth. Catalina then carried the book over to Carl (or Gretchen) and the man dried it off with a towel before handing it back to the child. The kids were a riot - stopping at each page to show Catalina the pictures. After, she got a treat for being such a good listener. Turns out, that day, she also was given a stuffed animal by her owner to give each child - it was Catalina's way of apologizing for cancelling on Friday. It was a nice surprise, but I had to make sure they were not going to expect a present if we ever got a chance to do this again. Catalina also spoke when asked to and shook hands with the kids before they left.
Turns out, we did get another chance for a spot on the full schedule. They had 1 opening the next day with a yellow lab named Earl. Earl is newer to the program. This was only his second day listening to kids, but he did good. He was not as into looking at pictures, though. I stayed in the room and snapped some better (non glare) pictures that morning. Then, we lucked out and they had 1 cancellation on Friday to read to Catalina again so when the lady in front of me at the children's counter declined the spot, I grabbed it.
By now, the kids were pros at reading to dogs, so I did not let them pick books they practiced and knew well. I chose books for them that were a bit more challenging for each one. And, they did great! We also brought thank you notes with drawings for Catalina for the stuffed animals. They easily understood that was a special treat. Phew. (Those are the 2 Beanie Babies they are holding in the car seat pictures from the rental car post.) She had a new trick to show them, too. they were able to coach her to roll over with a couple simple commands. She is definitely a sweet doggie!
So, the August calendar is not up yet and as of Friday morning, they did not have any more openings in July. Maybe we'll get another chance to read before school starts again. The program is very cool. The librarian said they have tracked kids' progress who have participated for a year and the improvements in their reading abilities are amazing. Or, other kids sign up who may be somewhat afraid of dogs because this is a very controlled and calm environment to interact with a dog. Then other kids, just love dogs and may not have one at home. Hopefully, we can have more opportunities to participate.
I did this one summer with Cassie before she retired from therapy work. She loved the attention and the kids loved being able to read to her.
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