Therapy dog encourages kids to read

Years from now, when Middlebury’s current population of six- and seven-year-olds looks back on its first reading triumphs, first-grade teachers and patient parents may get less credit than one furry individual who does not even read.

Meet Shoopie, the four-year-old Newfoundland therapy dog who has recently signed on with the Ilsley Public Library’s Youth Services as a once-weekly reading companion.

“We look for different ways for kids to connect with reading and to get excited about it and have positive library experiences,” said Judah Hamer, Librarian for Youth Services. “This is a program that I know has been successful other places, and if you’re a kid who just loves animals, then this is a great way to come the library and do something you really love to do and get you reading a little bit.”

The program Hamer referred to is called Library Dogs, a national organization that connects libraries with local therapy dogs, and it’s what got Shoopie’s owners, Tom and Nancy Maxwell, to bring her in and see if Hamer was interested in December.

“I had read about [Library Dogs]— it’s a fairly widespread program — and it just seemed like a wonderful thing to do,” said Tom Maxwell. “We do Helen Porter nursing home on Thursday mornings and this is a nice counterpoint to that. When you have a dog like this, you want to share the dog with people. It’s a great thing that we just enjoy doing, and she seems to enjoy doing it, too.”

The Maxwells bought Shoopie from a breeder a year ago and took her to therapy dog training with Therapy Dogs International over the summer. Newfoundlands are loving and calm dogs often trained for rescue and therapy work, Tom Maxwell explained, so getting Shoopie involved in the community was a no-brainer. The only thing limiting Shoopie’s volunteer work is her fur.

“She’s good for about an hour, and then she starts to get too hot and it’s time to put the toys away, get her outside,” said Tom Maxwell.

Shoopie is perhaps even more patient than the average Newfoundland as she lies next to peacefully reading children and affectionately greets each new reader, seemingly aware of her large size and approaching small children carefully.

Professor of Computer Science Amy Briggs brought her two children, Anna, 9, and Peter, 6, to read to the gentle giant on Tuesday, and both Briggs and the large number of children who wanted to sign up for 10-minute slots at only the program’s second weekly meeting spoke to its success.

“My kids were really excited — my daughter loves dogs,” Briggs said. “She was great, she was petting the dog with one hand and reading with the other. Anna is a struggling reader and Peter is just a beginning reader, so especially for Anna this will be really helpful. She read for 15 minutes straight today, and she doesn’t read to me for 15 minutes straight.”

Hamer was also pleased with the event’s popularity, explaining that part of the appeal in reading to a dog is that it removes much of the pressure on kids associated with reading to an adult who may want to correct or assist the child, but it is also just nice for children to interact with a friendly animal.

“Shoopie is just so easy-going,” Hamer said. “I grew up kind of skittish around dogs, so I’m thrilled to offer this nice positive experience with a dog. And there are kids who can’t have dogs for various reasons — that’s definitely part of the appeal.”

The program is also unique in that its main focus is reading.

“It’s nice that it’s a program that’s appealing to kids and has a really strong reading component to it,” said Hamer. “We do all sorts of different programs here, and each has different ways of encouraging kids to read and interact with media and opening up the world to them, but in these days of the internet and all of these other things, it’s just nice to have something that’s pretty squarely a reading program and know that it’s going to be a homerun.”

As kids left the reading room on Tuesday afternoon, many stopped to give Shoopie a hug or kiss goodbye, so it seems the kids might not be the only ones enjoying Stories with Shoopie. Join Shoopie and all of her friends every Tuesday at 3:30, but be sure to sign up for a 10-minute session beforehand through Judah Hamer at (802) 388-4097 or Judah.Hamer@ilsleypubliclibrary.org.