Read to the Dogs Program

Today Kendall and I did our first session ever at the Beaverton Library Read to the Dogs Program. We had four children signed up to read with us, but only three showed up. Kendall loves kids but doesn't get to be around them very much. She was pretty excited when we got there but calmed down once the kids started reading to her. She got to meet a lot of kids who were there just doing library stuff. The program at the library is part of the Dove Lewis/Delta Society program

Here's the info from the Beaverton Library:

Read to the Dogs

Thursday, April 14 and May 12, 2011
6:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Saturdays, March 26, April 2 & 23, May 7 & 21 and June 4, 2011
10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Children's Area of Beaverton City Library Main

Improve your reading skills and make a new friend by reading aloud to therapy dogs. The dog-and-handler teams are registered volunteers with Delta Society's Pet Partners Program, sponsored by DoveLewis. This program is for children who are reading on their own. Sessions are 20 minutes in length. Space in this program is limited.
This program is made possible by the Dove Lewis Animal Assisted Therapy and Education Program and Delta Society.
Registration is required. Please phone (503)350-3600 to register or sign up in person at the Children's Desk on the first floor of the library. Registration for the Spring 2011 session begins Wednesday, March 2, 2011.

If you have kids who are reading on their own, it's definitely worthwhile. They say they don't always fill all of the slots.

A Little Trickster

Sunday was the Pets on Parade event in Lake Oswego.

We attended as a representative of the Delta Society. As a group we walked in the Grand Parade, but Kendall and I participated in the "Entertainers" category of the event. She has a little routine of tricks she does when she gets a treat. So far she can sit, down, bow, spin, shake, roll over, speak, and stand and we're working on Bang (you're dead). Her bag of tricks won her 1st prize in the category. She even got a trophy for winning.

There were dogs of all shapes and sizes there.

There was even a pony in the parade. There was also a police dog there who gave a demonstration.

Some random pictures from the day:

We're now official!

Last week I received my badge from the Delta Society. Now Kendall and I are officially registered as a Pet Partner therapy team. I did some visiting of some facilities around us to find us a place to start visiting. I went to one that had a wonderful program in place and already had a couple of Pet Partner teams coming in to do visits weekly. The nursing home where I decided that we're going to do our volunteering is one that doesn't currently have any teams visiting and is quite a large facility. I thought that their residents might benefit a bit more from having us visit.

Our first visit is Thursday! I went today for a tour and to meet some of the staff. I'm on my own on Thursday. I don't know exactly what that's going to be like, but my plan is to just go in and let Kendall sniff around and get comfortable with the place. It'll probably be a very short visit. I did meet a nice woman today who loves dogs. We'll be sure to stop and say hi to her.

We're going to visit twice a month for the next six months and see how it goes. I'm excited but a bit unsure. I'm sure I'll have lots to pass along.

Badge Photo

One of the last things I had to do for our Delta Society paperwork was send in a photo of Kendall and me for our ID badge. We ran over to work today so that my co-worker could take our picture.