Children practice reading skills with help of dogs

Children from throughout the South Bay recently stood in line at San Jose's Willow Glen Library waiting their turn to read to some very special guests — three Labrador retriever-mix dogs.

The three canines proved to be good listeners.

"It was almost too good to be true," says Tracey Gatheral, as her 8-year-old daughter, Emma Rodensky, loudly read to Raella, a 13-month yellow Lab, who sat and quietly listened.

The dogs were part of Canine Companions for Independence, the organization that held the Reading to Dogs event at the library to give children a chance to practice their reading skills in front of an audience that doesn't laugh or criticize.

CCI trains special assistance dogs for people with disabilities. The dogs are allowed public access to wherever their partners go.

"I've been looking for something like this," Gatheral said. "[Emma] is a home-schooler, and this helps her out socially and in other ways, too. Dogs are so magical, so it was wonderful.

"Emma knows how to read, but this helps her be comfortable reading in public," Gatheral added.

The event was the first at Willow Glen Library for the organization. Similar events have taken place in Milpitas, Palo Alto and at the Pearl and West Valley libraries.

"It's a great idea," says Joanne Romberg. "It takes the pressure off the kids, and the parents are more comfortable because the dogs are trained."

Her 5-year-old daughter, Kira, was a

little nervous about being around the dogs because she doesn't like it when they lick her or jump up, her mother said.

"But these dogs are so calm, I explained to her," Romberg said.

Kira reached out to Raella and smiled at her mother when the dog stood still.

"I'm glad that they're making the parents sit back," Romberg said. "We have an instinct to correct. This way, she can just relax and read."

Linda Cortez, CCI South Bay Chapter president, said the dogs are well suited for the reading events.

"For the kids, they enjoy reading out loud to the dogs, and for the dogs, they need to learn how to sit still for long periods of time and be quiet."

CCI breeds, raises and trains four types of dogs. There are service dogs that assist adults with physical disabilities by performing daily tasks. There are hearing dogs, which alert the deaf and hard of hearing to important sounds. There are facility dogs, which work with a professional in a visitation, education or health-care setting. And there are skilled companions, which are trained to enhance independence for children and adults with physical, cognitive and developmental disabilities.

According to its South Bay Chapter founder Pat Wilcox of Saratoga, the organization has breeders and caretakers throughout the South Bay, including Sunnyvale and Cupertino.

"We have a breeder/caretaker/puppy raiser in Sunnyvale as well as three facility dog teams that live in Sunnyvale but work in Los Gatos and San Jose," Cortez said.

The facility dogs are partnered with professionals who work with the disabled. One of the Sunnyvale dogs works with stroke patients, one with medically fragile children in a sub-acute facility, and the other with mentally ill adults.

"Facility dogs are more than pet therapy dogs," Cortez said. "Their interactions with clients have specific therapeutic goals and they are highly involved in the rehabilitation/treatment plan."

CCI has a total of seven hearing dogs, 10 facility dogs, 12 breeders and about 20 puppies, all at different stages.

"Reading to dogs started from our standpoint as a method to engage the reluctant reader," Wilcox said. "The program has a long history, but didn't start with us."

The two other dogs at the reading event were Jaba, a 4.5-year-old black Lab, and his owner, San Jose resident Noelle Anderson, and Tildy, a 1-year-old Golden Retriever puppy-in-training, who was there with breeder Shari Rodenberger.

Students Cameron and Kyle Dunn were all smiles and read aloud to Jaba and Tildy.

"They don't have a dog at home so it's exciting to them," said nanny Kati Vo of the 6-year-olds. "They get to practice their reading skills and it's cute."

For 5-year-olds Namya Asrani and Arshul Wadhwani, the chance to read to some wet-nosed friends was a treat.

"He loves reading and loves dogs," said Rita Wadhwani, who drove from Campbell to bring her son to the event.

Her friend made the longest trip out. Hiya Asrani found out about the event via Internet from her New Jersey home. She was planning a trip out and wanted to have something fun for the children to do while there.

"Namya was telling all her friends that we were going to California to read to dogs," she said. "It was so cute."