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Furry reading buddy helps boost reading confidence at county libraries

Paws 4 Stories has a certified therapy dog on hand for a child to read to as a means to foster confidence in their ability to read
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Lili, an eight-year-old goldendoodle, is a certified therapy dog. She will be part of a program at Wellington County library branches where children can read to her.

CENTRE WELLINGTON – There’s a new reading buddy coming by Wellington County Library branches. 

Paws 4 Stories will see a certified therapy dog, an eight-year-old goldendoodle named Lili, available as a reading companion for those who have signed up. 

Julie Wheeler Bryant, Lili’s owner, explained in a phone interview the program is aimed at children who may lack confidence in reading to have a nonjudgmental companion to share a story with. 

“I think it just takes the emphasis off of it being human to human, as it usually is, if a parent or teacher is trying to help a child,” Wheeler Bryant said. “There’s just more going on there because a teacher has a curriculum, an agenda, a parent wants the child to get better at reading and all that and the dog doesn’t really care.” 

Lili isn’t Wheeler Bryant’s first certified therapy dog to do this program. She previously had Molly, who has since died, do the program prior to the pandemic. With Molly, she saw children respond really well.

“Molly would just lay her head on the child’s lap or turn upside down and her feet would be dangling up in the air while her tummy was being rubbed by the child as they read or just shared the picture or made up a story,” Wheeler Bryant said. “It doesn’t matter to me what they’re doing as long as they’re having this little relationship over a book.”

She added this program can be helpful for those who may be afraid of dogs or unfamiliar with how to act around them. 

Lili has gone through a lot of training to be ready to work with children.

Initially, she had to pass a test to be able to go into retirement, long term care or group homes. This test itself has around a dozen sub-tests Wheeler Bryant figured. 

From there, Lili had to go through further training and testing to be certified to be able to work with children in a setting like a library. 

This test saw her put in a room with 11 children. 

“They run around and throw things and create a great mob scene of yelling and jumping around and then there’s also a session where she sits one on one with a child who reads to her from a book, more like what you’d have in a library,” Wheeler Bryant said. “She passed that one with flying colours.” 

Lili will have her first real event on Friday June 2 at the Aboyne branch with two more events planned in Harriston the same day and Elora later in the month. Aboyne and Elora are already fully booked but Wheeler Bryant expects there to be more Paws 4 Stories events in the future. 

Wheeler Bryant said she’s happy to be back at the libraries with a dog for the program. She remains on site to keep an eye on the dog but mostly stays out of the picture. 

“It’s all about the kid, the kid and the dog and it seems to make people happy, so it can’t get much better than that,” Wheeler Bryant said. 

Library events, like Paws 4 Stories, can be found here.


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Keegan Kozolanka

About the Author: Keegan Kozolanka

Keegan Kozolanka is a general assignment reporter for EloraFergusToday, covering Wellington County. Keegan has been working with Village Media for more than two years and helped launch EloraFergusToday in 2021.
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