My Dog The Therapist: Happy National Therapy Animal Day!

Today is National Therapy Animal Day, a day to honor animals that provide comfort and emotional healing to people in need.  This day is particularly near and dear to my heart since my Husky, Icy and I are a Pet Partners Therapy Dog team.

National Therapy Animal Day was created by Pet Partners to recognize all of the exceptional therapy animals who partner with their human companions to bring comfort and healing to those in need. Therapy animals can be dogs, cats, birds, horses, and many other kinds of animals.  Therapy animal teams help people of all ages in a variety of different settings including libraries, hospitals, schools, and nursing homes.

Icy and I, with her wearing her purple Therapy Dog vest & me wearing my purple shirt; we match!  But no, that wasn't intentional, just a happy coincidence LOL!

National Therapy Animal Day serves to:

 * Recognize and honor therapy animals

* Raise awareness and educate the public about the role therapy animals play in enhancing the health and well being of humans 

* Honor the thousands of dedicated handlers (the human half of a therapy animal team) who volunteer their time and compassion during visits

As you can see, Icy thoroughly enjoys the children's reading program at the library!

Today I celebrate my darling Therapy Dog, Icy who loves everyone she meets and makes people smile even when they're going through very tough times.  Today will be all about her!  First up is a long desert hike, followed by a puppuccino at Starbucks!  What's a puppuccino you ask?  It's a small cup of whipped cream!  It's one of Icy's favorite treats. 

Thank you Icy, my sweet girl, for volunteering side by side with me to help others.  It's the most rewarding thing I've ever had the pleasure of doing, and I couldn't do it without you!  I love you to the moon and back!!

I like that story, can you read it to me again?!

To read more about the Therapy Dog work Icy and I do together, check out these posts:

Why Children Should Read Out Loud To Dogs
Find great animal therapy pins on my Pinterest board, Therapy Dogs Are Angels With Paws 

Have you or someone you love ever been touched by a Therapy Dog angel?  Please leave us a comment and share!  We always love hearing from you!<!--

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY: Kids Read To Dogs To Improve Reading Skills

One of the Therapy Dog programs Isis and I love participating in is kids reading to dogs, helping kids improve their reading skills.  Here's a pic of Isis sitting so nicely with a sweet little girl during her reading session.

I normally never photograph children in order to protect their privacy, but since you can't see the girls face, I couldn't resist snapping this photo of Isis intently "listening" to the story!

Check out my friend Jenna's recent interview with me about our Therapy Dog work on Love Is Being Owned By A Husky. 

To learn more about how kids reading out loud to dogs helps improve reading skills, see my post on Why Children Should Read to Dogs.

THIS IS A BLOGPAWS WORDLESS WEDNESDAY BLOG HOP!!

MY DOG THE THERAPIST: Why Children Should Read To Dogs

Awhile back I published the first My Dog The Therapist segment, where I talked about How my Husky Icy Became a Therapy Dog.  Now I'll share with you one of the programs she participated in, a program where children read out loud to dogs!  Sounds weird, right?  Believe it or not, this helps improve a child's reading skills and is particularly beneficial to kids that struggle with reading.

Icy resting after one of the children's reading program sessions at a local library.

I was always a book worm and loved reading as a child, so a reading program where kids read out loud to dogs to improve their reading skills was right up my alley!  It sounded a little unconventional, but when I researched it more I learned that:

> Reading aloud helps children improve their reading skills significantly.

> Reading to dogs can help a child build confidence without fear of judgment or embarrassment by parents, teachers or other kids. 

> The Dogs help motivate reluctant readers who don’t like to read, or are afraid they won’t read well. 

Reading programs can take place at libraries, schools, bookstores, hospitals, even homeless shelters.

Icy in the library Community Room, waiting for the kids reading program to start. 

Here are some compelling and disturbing facts about literacy in the U.S.:

> Over 40 million adults in the U.S. don't read well enough to read a simple story to a child.  How shocking is that?!

> Nearly half of the nation's unemployed youth aged 16-21 are functional illiterate, and will have little to no job prospects.

> Children who haven't developed basic literacy skills by the time they enter school are 3 to 4 times more likely to drop out later.

> 60% of American prison inmates and 85% of juvenile offenders have  reading problems.  That is a pretty scary statistic!

Fact Sources:  US Dept. of Education & US Dept. of Health & Human Services

Icy and I participated in reading programs in public libraries. Usually there were 3 Therapy Dogs. Over about an hour, each child got 15 minutes to sit with the dog of their choice and read a book of their choosing. The kids loved it and so do the dogs! Kids get a kick out of seeing a "snowdog" at the library.  They loved when Icy's expression showed that she was enjoying their reading and the book they chose to read to her!  Sometimes she was so relaxed she even closed her eyes and dozed off a bit.
 

Some of the kids have never owned a dog, so it's a real treat to spend time with a dog.  The funniest thing is that sometimes the parents enjoy it even more than the kids, petting the dogs and asking questions about them while their child is reading!   

Afterwards, I would take Icy home and give her a Kong bone filled with peanut butter or a special chew stick! It's so much fun and rewarding, we love the children reading to dogs program!

 "To learn to read is to light a fire;
every syllable that is spelled out is a spark"

- Victor Hugo, Les Miserables

What do you think about a reading program where kids read out loud to dogs?  Leave us a comment, we love hearing from you!

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If you love Dogs as much as I do, visit my Etsy shop, NATURE and CRITTERS for unique dog and nature inspired gifts

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