Oregon Coast today., February 14, 2020, Page 6, Image 6

A reading lab
with a difference
M
y dog Scout is helping me be a
better driver. Because she gets
nervous if I exhibit any aggressive
behavior in the car, including speeding,
passing or simply cussing aloud when
another driver does something I don’t like,
I have been working on being calmer in
the car. As a result, my time on the road is
becoming more pleasant and far less stressful
for us both.
Dogs can also act as a calming presence
for children, and an increasing number of
programs are using them to help ease some
of the stress many kids feel about reading
aloud, which can have negative eff ects
in other parts of their learning and even
behavior.
Staff at the Toledo Library and Toledo
Elementary School’s 21st Century
THINK
PAWSITIVE
COASTAL STORIES WITH MORE WAG
BY GRETCHEN AMMERMAN
Community Learning Center are fi nding
that they are barking up the right tree with
“Pages with Piper and Friends,” where a
certifi ed therapy dog named Piper and her
person, Lynn Alexanderson, go into the
school and let kids practice reading to an
attentive and non-judgmental audience.
“Two summers ago, at the start of our
summer reading program I had a little girl
who had been through a year of cancer
treatment so had missed a year of school,”
said Denyse Marsh, children’s library
specialist. “We paired her with Piper and
it was such an incredible experience. She
was a reluctant reader, but with Piper
her inhibitions lessened and we watched
her abilities and confi dence blossom. I
knew then that this was something worth
developing.”
Th e program began in January and will
continue monthly. During each session, four
diff erent kids will have a 15-minute period
to read to Piper. At the end of the school
term, all the kids in the program will have
had the experience.
“I’ve been trying to get this off the
ground since September,” Marsh said. “It’s
really been a labor of love so I was very
grateful when it all came through. Piper has
been coming to our Story Hour for the last
three years, so we have a relationship with
her and she has a relationship with us.”
Piper, a female Labrador retriever,
was raised by Alexanderson specifi cally
as a therapy dog and has far exceeded
expectations.
“Once Piper passed her canine good
citizenship test, we started going to the
library to get her used to that environment,”
Alexanderson said. “Kids can be noisy;
sometimes they squeak and cry but none
of that seemed to bother her. After a little
while, we found out that sometimes the only
thing that brought kids to the library was
if they knew that the lady with the dog was
going to be there. When Denise approached
me about working with a little girl who
was behind in her reading because of being
treated for cancer, I felt like Piper was ready,
and she did great. It was a pretty incredible
experience for me too.”
If canine facial expressions can be trusted,
Piper seems to enjoy being a sounding board
for kids as they build confi dence.
“Piper actually looks into the faces of the
kids reading to her like she’s really listening,”
Alexanderson said. “After that fi rst day of
reading sessions, I knew we were doing the
right thing.”
Marsh, a retired science teacher, has
a lot of enthusiasm for literacy and kids’
education and the program is going as well
as she could have hoped.
“For the fi rst session, I read to all the kids
from a book called ‘Madeline Finn and the
Library Dog,’ she said. “It’s is about a kid
who reads to a dog to help with her reading
abilities. Th e fi rst girl that was scheduled for
a session said, ‘I’m like the little girl in the
book, I’m not a good reader.’ So, I said, ‘you
are the perfect person for this then.’”
Students in the J.O.Y. club ( Jobs for Our
Youth) of Toledo Jr/Sr High have been a
part of Pages With Piper and Friends, too,
helping to create slogans, posters and other
media related ideas.
6 • oregoncoastTODAY.com • facebook.com/oregoncoasttoday • February 14, 2020
Piper at work, with Lynn Alexanderson in the background
Denyse Marsh
“I reached out to their director to see if I
could work with the club on ideas on how
to grow the program,” Marsh said. “Th e fi rst
time we met we had a big brainstorming
session. Giving those high school students a
project that is close to them made them feel
important and they were especially proud
when they got to be in the paper.”
Alexanderson wants her work with
Piper to help increase awareness about the
wide range of value supplied by canine
companionship.
“It takes time and eff ort to train therapy
dogs,” she said. “I used professional guidance
along the way so I didn’t unwittingly
reinforce negative behavior. But it has been
more than worth it.”
Piper and her person still go to the
Toledo Library for Story Hour, Wednesdays
at 10:30 am.
“One of the fi rst times I brought Piper
to Story Hour, the kids were led in the song,
‘Bingo,’” Alexanderson said. “Piper watched
the kids as they are singing, and normally
she’s so quiet but then the kids started
barking during the B-I-N-G-O part instead
of clapping and she barked along with them;
it was so cute and the kids just loved it.”