Champion readers

‘Tail Waggin’ Tutors’ brings therapy dog to Brookings library

Posted

BROOKINGS – Kids who like to read to someone now have an attentive four-legged, furry friend at the Brookings Public Library: Champ the therapy dog. 

Always accompanying him is his friend and owner, Cindy Peterson.

On Feb. 28 the duo were at the library to listen to four youngsters hone their reading skills through Therapy Dogs International “Tail Waggin’ Tutors” program. 

Peterson adopted Champ, 9 years old and a mix of shih tzu and poodle, from the Sioux Falls Humane Society when he was 6 months old. 

“He and his brother were given up for adoption,” she said. Laughing, she added, “My daughter saw him in his little kennel, and he looked at us like, ‘Where have you been? Why haven’t you been here?’

“We adopted him the next day.”

Champ has a non-biological sister, Lucy, a Bichon Frise that is smaller and a year younger. She was rescued from a puppy mill when she was a few months old.

Peterson, a Brookings resident, retired early from her work at McCrory Gardens. She found an active Therapy Dogs International four-week training program in Sioux Falls, with about 100 dogs. She and Champ commuted to the training on Saturdays. He completed the training and received the American Kennel Club Canine Citizen Award. 

He was next certified with TDI after passing a vigorous 13-step testing program that included: “Getting around people … visiting with a patient … testing of reactions to unusual situations … meeting another dog … and reaction to children.” He has been certified for about a year and proudly wears his official TDI scarf.

But before even taking the test, each canine candidate is vigorously pre-screened. TDI rules state that it will not test or register any dog that has bitten a human being. Also disqualified are dogs with “poor temperament” and dogs that have been trained with a shock collar. 

Comfort and companionship 

“A therapy dog is not a service dog,” Peterson explained. “They are not trained to do a specific thing to help people. Therapy dogs provide comfort and companionship by visiting hospitals, nursing homes, schools, libraries, like today, and many other types of facilities. They allow people to pet them.

“It’s known by studies that dogs and animals in general will lower your blood pressure when you’re touching them and talking with them; the whole mood just changes.

“You can tell in the room or the center when he comes in. One thing I love about my job is that everybody’s smiling when I come in. They’re happy to see Champ. Hopefully, they like to see me, too; but he’s the star.”

And he takes it all in stride. Someone meeting Champ for the first time will find him friendly and approachable but a bit laid-back.

“He’s always been a very calm dog,” Peterson said. “One thing that is very important with a therapy dog is their demeanor.

“In some of that you can’t train a dog; they kind of naturally have to have it. They have to be outgoing. They have to acclimate themselves to different situations that they’ll adjust to, where they won’t react too much to things.

“Since he was just a little guy, he’s always been happy just sitting in your lap. He’s a people dog. It’s important that they like people, from young children all the way up to the elderly.

“I’m pretty fortunate with Champ. He likes both. He likes everybody. He’s acclimated very, very well. I’m very pleased with him.”

When Peterson moved from Sioux Falls to Brookings in 2011, she was aware of a therapy-dog group in Sioux Falls.

She said she always had “an interest in the relationship between animals and people and how they can benefit each other. I wanted to help them with my dog.”

Getting ready for readers

For a few weeks Champ and Peterson visited the Neighborhoods at Brookview. But then Champ suffered a leg injury this winter and had to have surgery. He was unable to walk the long distances required for room-to-room visits at the Neighborhoods.

So Peterson decided to try the “Tail Waggin’ Tutors” program at the Brookings Public Library.

To gain some experience for herself and for Champ, she took him to the Dell Rapids Library as part of the Tutors program there, with kids reading to therapy dogs.

“It’s to help young children enjoy reading,” Peterson said. “The key to it is that it makes children comfortable. He just needs to come in the library and sit down. So that’s what we do right now. And that works out perfect for him.”

“It’s been a lot of fun and the staff enjoys it, too,” she added. “They look forward to him coming as well.”

Peterson plans to return with Champ to the Neighborhoods, because she has been told that his visits are being missed. Additionally, the Brookings Health System recently asked her to take Champ to visit hospice patients.

Peterson said the library had “always been special to my family” and called the Tutors library program “such a treat to hopefully give back a little bit and help some kids out.”

“It was something we were interested in having,” Brookings Children’s Librarian Katherine Eberline said of Tail Waggin’ Tutors. She visited with Peterson a couple times in the past year and they decided this year was a good time to launch the new program.

“We figured we’ll start small, so Champ is here for an hour,” Eberline said. “We’ve got four readers that he listens to, four (quarter-hour) slots a week. We’ll see where it goes from there.”

For additional information about TDI training and certification, contact local director Beth Jernberg at 605-941-7393 or email her at Bj@sio.midco.net.

Contact John Kubal a jkubal@brookingsregister.com.

Register photo: Champ listens attentively as Charlie Butzin, a first-grader at Dakota Prairie Elementary School, reads to him Feb. 28 at the Brookings Public Library. Looking on are Charlie’s mom, Xuan Butzin, and siblings Haylie, 11 months, and Shiloh, 3.