Chocolate Lab will be at Longmeadow's Storrs Library on April 13.
Anna-Lee Thompson, 9, of Springfield, reads a book to Ralph, a chocolate Labrador, trained to serve as an audience for children improving their reading skills.
Nine-year-old Anna-Lee Thompson had a captive audience when she read Laura Numeroff’s book “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie” out loud during a recent visit to the Richard Salter Storrs Library in Longmeadow.
.
Sitting next to her with his face glancing at the book was Ralph, the Reading Therapy Dog, a 3-and-a-half-year-old chocolate Labrador owned by Susan Burton, and trained to work with children learning to read and as a therapy dog for hospital patients.
“I felt really comfortable reading to Ralph. He enjoyed it. His favorite part was when the mouse drew a picture,” said Thompson, a student at the Alfred G. Zanetti Montessori School in Springfield.
Thompson was at the library with her sister, Catherine, 8, and her mother Phyllis Thompson of Springfield, one of a number of parents and children who took advantage of Ralph’s recent guest appearance last month. Participants could sign up for 15-minute sessions.
“The girls love to go to the library and they have a ton of books on dogs,” Phyllis Thompson said. “It’s a nice opportunity for kids to interact with a dog, especially if a family is thinking about getting one.”
Burton, communications manager at Baystate Health in Springfield, got the idea about using her dog Ralph in a therapeutic way when she wrote a job-related article about a handler whose dog worked with hospice patients in New Hampshire.
Burton found out the handler belonged to Therapy Dogs International, a volunteer organization dedicated to regulating, testing and registration of therapy dogs and their volunteer handlers. Burton contacted the organization and last fall Ralph passed its test to be a therapy dog, she said.
“My children are avid readers and I love the idea of children having an incentive to read and either get better at reading or feel comfortable around dogs, whatever the objective is for the parents,” Burton said. “He has a really good temperament for this.”
Burton, who hopes to schedule similar sessions at area libraries, has also brought Ralph to Baystate Health’s children and adult patient units to provide companionship for patients—and a boost, she said.
“He’s a therapy dog for patients who need a lift. He comes into a room, greets them and they pet him,” she said. “It puts smiles on their faces.”
During the Storrs library event, Ralph sat patiently while 7-year-old twins Grace and Caitlin Reilly, of Longmeadow, sat on the floor and took turns reading Laura Godwin’s “One Moon, Two Cats” out loud.
“A book about cats, Ralph’s going to like that one,” Burton told the girls.
Twins Caitlin and Grace Reilly of Longmeadow read "One Moon, Two Cats" to Ralph, the Reading Therapy Dog, brought to the Richard Salter Storrs Library so children could read to him.
“I saw information about Ralph on the library’s website and we called to sign up. This year they’ve really come a long way with their reading so I thought it would be a perfect thing for them to do,” said the girls’ mother, Eileen Reilly. “They love animals and couldn’t wait to see Ralph.”
Jean Maziarz, youth services librarian at Storrs, said having a non-judging listener like Ralph in a peaceful setting can be beneficial while young readers practice.
Ralph will return on April 13 to the Storrs Library from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Parents of children who are early readers may register their child for a 10-minute reading block by calling (413) 565-4182 or visiting the Philip Michael Lauro II Discovery Room.