Is your dog good with kids or seniors?
Would you and your dog like to make a difference in your community?
Marie looks on as her daughter Laurel reads to Sydney, a Reading with Rover dog.
I recently visited Becky Bishop at
Puppy Manners Ranch, a muttropolis resort and canine education camp for Seattle’s best dogs. Becky also happens to be the Executive Director of
Reading with Rover, an exciting program here in the Northwest that involves kids, dogs and literacy.
Reading With Rover is a community-based literacy program volunteering in the schools, bookstores and libraries of Puget Sound area of Washington State. The program pairs companion dogs with kids who may be uncomfortable reading aloud. The dogs provide their rapt attention and the children can read aloud without fear of criticism or interruption.
Grab your kids and sniff out all these cool Reading with Rover events happening around the region and see for yourself what all the doggone excitement is about. (And you thought all the fun was playing fetch with Fido in your backyard!)
If you’re interested in Reading With Rover, if you have a good dog OR a potential “Rover in the making”, talk to Becky. There are programs available to help train you and your dog to become a registered Delta Society Pet Partners® therapy team–the first step toward participation in the Reading With Rover program.
Becky offers some terrific advice: “Reading with Rover is a wonderful way to get involved with your community. Think outside the box. Be open to ways to volunteer with a dog, it can even be your neighbor’s dog. Consider adopting a dog, especially an older dog. Reading with Rover is a fantastic way to renew an older dog’s spirit and give it a purpose. Dogs are natural icebreakers for kids, and for the volunteers as well.”
What a pawfectly great undertaking! I wish my son hadn’t just finished high school, although I may just borrow his dog and get involved.
Save the date!
Redmond Town Center is letting their streets go to the dogs! A Rock n’ Rover concert featuring gifted guitarist Michael Powers will be held at the Redmond Town Center Mall on August 7, 2008 from 5:00-9:00pm. Great food and great music – nothing like a concert to support your favorite literacy-lovin’ hounds! There will also be plenty of games such as the “Pupcake walk”, relay races, raffles, and a treasure hunt! Event proceeds will be used to provide books to low-income families. So bring the kids and the dogs and join in the fun supporting such a worthy cause!
P.S. Did you know that there are 63 pet-friendly businesses in the Redmond Town Center?
To get involved or learn more about Reading With Rover, contact Becky Bishop at www.puppymanners.com or visit the Reading With Rover website at www.readingwithrover.org. Read more about ongoing reading programs in which Pet Partners® are involved on the Delta Society® website or the Intermountain Therapy Animals website.
To learn more about the benefits of a companion animal, read Aaron Katcher’s book, Between Pets and People: The Importance of Animal Companionship, which eloquently explains how the presence of an animal can create a therapeutic environment.
