Dog Therapy
Program |
Dog Therapy
Program |
Dogs and children know who likes them. — Proverb
The Mahopac Library has been offering a very successful program for children who struggle to master reading. A local Animal Assisted Therapy Organization, H.A.R.T. (Human-Animal Relational Therapies), brings in therapy dogs with their handlers and the children read to the dogs. The dogs love the interaction with the children, they make no judgments as to how well the children are reading and the kids love to be with the dogs so it is a winning situation for all. In addition, if a child is stressed as they struggle to read, the mere presence of a dog reduces their stress level so they have a better chance to succeed and learn to enjoy reading.
I have been in contact with Lisa Edwards, CPDT, Deputy Director/Trainer for H.A.R.T. Programs and she is interested in hearing from other area libraries (*see geographical restrictions below) so they might offer this program, to the extent that they have teams available. Here is how the program works:
--Library obligations
* Work with local schools and/or Literacy Volunteers of America agencies to
identify children who would benefit OR offer the opportunity as a reward to
children who visit the library frequently OR a combination of both groups
* Provide space and publicity for the program. Room where two OR three teams
might work at the same time, if available.
* Plan to offer FIVE OR SIX (DEPENDING ON AVAILABILITY) sessions over a semester.
Each session lasts one hour max, with 15-minute segments for each child. No
teams available until spring 2004 semester, late Feb./March. No sessions in
summer.
* Plan activities for children waiting their turn. H.A.R.T. can offer suggestions,
if needed.
* Pay H.A.R.T. on fee schedule to be negotiated on an individual basis. (Rough
estimate--$300 for three teams making six visits)
--H.A.R.T. obligations
* Provide at least one team consisting of a dog AND handler, a team leader (who
oversees program), and possibly a teen escort (for additional assistance as
needed by the shape of the program)
* Visit library before program to assess space and any other issues
* Designate teams to visit libraries, with one backup team for each occasion
Some other aspects we discussed: If many kids sign up, each child gets only one opportunity to read; if low registration, kids can have repeat sessions. Mahopac Library is hoping to put the program in place in their new facility so that it runs continuously, children will attend multiple sessions and they will track their progress. Your library could limit registration to do a similar program or open it up to all children you identify as needing this type of remediation. That's the libraries decision.
This type of program has multiple pluses, I think: valuable service to local children (& thus their parents), opportunity to work with your local school, great PR situation to call the local newspaper and get them to do a story (kids and dogs are always a great photo op), bringing some families into your library who might not otherwise be patrons.
* Because H.A.R.T. is located in Mahopac and their teams are all volunteers with full-time jobs, they can more easily plan to visit evenings and weekends. They also feel they cannot serve libraries much farther north than Poughkeepsie/Hyde Park on this side of the river and Highland south on the west side of the Hudson. For libraries in those areas who are interested in inquiring about this program, please contact Lisa Edwards directly.
Websites with more dog therapy resources: