Therapy Dogs and Children

        After searching the library's database, I came across an article from the Lexington Examiner titled "Could your dog be a certified therapy dog at Lexington Public Libraries?" by Jodi Dickey. The article, although fairly short, provided more insightful information about these therapy dogs and told a personal story that provided a different perspective.
        This article starts out with telling about an organization in Lexington involving therapy dogs, that not many people are aware of. The program is called Paws to Read Program and it is hosted by the Lexington Public Library. Every month therapy dogs from Love on a Leash, and their owners come out to the library and listen to children read stories to the dogs. The author then writes of a story about her own personal experience with he Paws to Read Program. She says that one day she brought her therapy dog, Kodie, to the library to be read to, but when asking one young girl if she would like to read to her dog, the girl seemed frightened. She claimed she was scared of dogs and couldn't read very well. Once Jodi commanded Kodie to lay, a calm fell over the young girl. She began to pet Kodie and was no longer scared of the dog or to read out loud. Kodie helped relax the young girl and gave her confidence in herself. When many people think of service/ therapy dogs, they don't really picture the dogs working with kids, but in reality many, many children require some type of service dog. Towards the end of the article, the author mentions how a dog can get started with training to become a therapy dog. Dogs must possess characteristics such as confidence when approaching strangers and being able to remain calm in a variety of situations, and the dog and their owner must take a test and complete 10 hours of initial service. A website is included that one can visit if they think their dog would be a good service dog.
        I feel like this article would be a good source to use to help introduce how service dogs are also required by children. It also provides an organization that is in Lexington, so it's very close and would be convenient for anyone in the audience that wants to get involved.