Teams of dogs and owners meet for a Reading with Rover class at Freeland Library. More therapy dog training classes are expected to be offered through South Whidbey Parks Recreation. (Patricia Guthrie / Whidbey News Group)

Teams of dogs and owners meet for a Reading with Rover class at Freeland Library. More therapy dog training classes are expected to be offered through South Whidbey Parks Recreation. (Patricia Guthrie / Whidbey News Group)

Whidbey Island library goes to the (therapy) dogs

Once trained, they’ll be providing comfort, stress relief and a sunny, furry disposition.

By Patricia Guthrie / South Whidbey Record

Logan survived a rough start. Livy dropped out of school.

Echo tired of modeling and Maggie’s search-and-rescue days ended.

And Dudley, well, Dudley just needed to get out of the house.

They met in a therapy class every Wednesday night for the past month.

There, they learned not to sniff each other’s butts, get overly excited or growl.

Logan, Livy, Echo, Maggie and Dudley are Whidbey Island’s first class of canines being trained as therapy dogs under the Reading with Rover program.

Once certified, they’ll be out in the community at schools, libraries, long-term care centers, hospitals and other places providing comfort, stress relief and a sunny, furry disposition.

“It’s just this magic ball of fur,” said LouAnn Hepp, whose small black-and-white pari poodle Ruby has been attending South Whidbey Elementary School weekly for the past several years. “Some kids read and cuddle up to her. Some kids tell Ruby their problems. It’s a calming effect. There’s also a lot of teachers that need Ruby. You can just see them relax around her.”

Elementary students look forward to “Ruby Time” every Tuesday and Thursday, Hepp said. They curl up and read to her in the school library, pet her, brush her, hug her and ask Hepp questions about her.

Logan, an English golden retriever owned by Jamie Stahl, sits during therapy training class. (Patricia Guthrie / Whidbey News Group)

Logan, an English golden retriever owned by Jamie Stahl, sits during therapy training class. (Patricia Guthrie / Whidbey News Group)

“It’s very clear to me we need more of these teams,” Hepp said.

She recruited trainer Diane Trupiano from the Reading with Rover’s Woodinville office to teach the six-hour course. Classes were divided into two-hour segments in which owners learned how to teach their dogs to stay focused on their job, ignore other dogs and tolerate the intense focus of many strangers.

The class is offered through South Whidbey Parks and Recreation District and costs $150.

Officially, the primary focus of Reading with Rover is helping children “discover the joy of reading while developing literacy skills and confidence in a safe environment.” But kids with reading difficulties just know it’s more fun to read stories to a snugly dog than out loud to their peers in a classroom. Dogs listen and they don’t snicker or laugh at mistakes.

MieMie Wu, a librarian on Bothell, started the nonprofit organization based on a similar kid and canine reading partnership in Utah. Reading with Rover has expanded to many school districts, libraries and bookstores around Puget Sound.

Reading with Rover teams are called D.R.E.A.M. teams, which stands for: Dogs for Reading, Education, Assistance and More.

Owners of the doggy students had various reasons for wanting to be a therapy team.

“Echo needed another job and he loves children,” said Echo’s mom, Barbara Powell. “He will like to lie there and listen.”

Echo is a 131-pound Leonberger, a giant among dog breeds with droopy brown eyes, layers of golden fur and a love of swimming and socializing.

He needed a new career, Powell said, after retiring from the dog-show circuit.

All the dogs and their moms (owners were all women in this first class) must pass an evaluation and undergo 12 hours of provisional training before receiving the bright red Reading with Rover registered therapy dog patch.

Because there’s no Reading with Rover registered trainers on Whidbey, dogs and owners may have to go off island for the required exam. Dogs also must pass required health tests.

Trupiano has trained many dogs, some of them rescue dogs, to be registered Rovers.

“They are not service dogs,” she emphasized. “Service dogs are trained specifically for one person. Therapy dogs have to be everything to everybody. They help with crisis teams in disasters. They go into hospice, nursing homes, hospitals. We also go into local colleges during finals week to help students de-stress.”

This past week, Trupiano brought along Milly, a black lab, to Wednesday evening’s Reading with Rover class. It took place in the Freeland library, appropriately. All the dogs stayed on leases and got frequent potty breaks. They also gobbled up lots of treats as rewards.

One exercise called “Meet and Greet” required teams to simulate going for a walk with their dog, meet another dog and owner, stop, chat and keep their dogs at their side. No sniffing or nose-to-nose doggy greetings allowed.

Jamie Stahl’s lab, Livy, had tried training as a service dog but failed.

“A drop out,” Stahl said with a laugh. “This is a different process. In many ways, it reaches a lot more people and your dog becomes a companion to many.”

Near Livy, a puppy-looking English golden retriever named Logan looked longingly in need of a toy.

“He’s not a puppy, everyone thinks so though,” said Karen Benson. “He’s probably 8 or 9 years olds. We don’t really know because he’s a rescue from Montana. His full name is Logan Montana Bear.”

Benson said she hopes to soon open a book store with Logan a steady presence in the children’s section.

Other teams in training included nine-year-old poodle Dudley and Joyce Golden. She said Dudley has been trained as a therapy dog elsewhere but not this specific program.

“I’m retired. He doesn’t get out to do as much,” she said. “He loves working with kids.”

Coupeville Elementary School teacher Susan Marchese hoped her retired search-and-rescue golden retriever, Maggie, would soon be her classroom assistant. “I know how hard reading can be for some kids,” she said.

For information on Whidbey’s Reading with Rover program, contact LouAnn Hepp, la@vistadx.net

This story originally appeared in the South Whidbey Record, a sibling paper of The Daily Herald.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

Trader Joe’s customers walk in and out of the store on Monday, Nov. 20, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Trader Joe’s opens this week at Everett Mall

It’s a short move from a longtime location, essentially across the street, where parking was often an adventure.

Ian Bramel-Allen enters a guilty plea to second-degree murder during a plea and sentencing hearing on Wednesday, March 6, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Deep remorse’: Man gets 17 years for friend’s fatal stabbing in Edmonds

Ian Bramel-Allen, 44, pleaded guilty Wednesday to second-degree murder for killing Bret Northcutt last year at a WinCo.

Firefighters respond to a small RV and a motorhome fire on Tuesday afternoon in Marysville. (Provided by Snohomish County Fire Distrct 22)
1 injured after RV fire, explosion near Marysville

The cause of the fire in the 11600 block of 81st Avenue NE had not been determined, fire officials said.

Ashton Dedmon appears in court during his sentencing hearing on Tuesday, March 5, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Everett Navy sailor sentenced to 90 days for fatal hit and run

Ashton Dedmon crashed into Joshua Kollman and drove away. Dedmon, a petty officer on the USS Kidd, reported he had a panic attack.

A kindergarten student works on a computer at Emerson Elementary School on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘¡Una erupción!’: Dual language programs expanding to 10 local schools

A new bill aims to support 10 new programs each year statewide. In Snohomish County, most follow a 90-10 model of Spanish and English.

Cassie Franklin, Mayor of Everett, delivers the annual state of the city address Thursday morning in the Edward D. Hansen Conference Center in Everett, Washington on March 31, 2022.  (Kevin Clark / The Herald)
At Everett mayor’s keynote speech: $35 entry, Boeing sponsorship

The city won’t make any money from the event, city spokesperson Simone Tarver said. Still, it’s part of a trend making open government advocates wary.

Logo for news use featuring the Tulalip Indian Reservation in Snohomish County, Washington. 220118
Woman drives off cliff, dies on Tulalip Reservation

The woman fell 70 to 80 feet after driving off Priest Point Drive NW on Sunday afternoon.

Everett
Boy, 4, survives fall from Everett fourth-story apartment window

The child was being treated at Seattle Children’s. The city has a limited supply of window stops for low-income residents.

People head out to the water at low tide during an unseasonably warm day on Saturday, March 16, 2024, at Lighthouse Park in Mukilteo, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Everett shatters record high temperature by 11 degrees

On Saturday, it hit 73 degrees, breaking the previous record of 62 set in 2007.

Snohomish County Fire District #4 and Snohomish Regional Fire & Rescue respond to a motor vehicle collision for a car and pole. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene, near Triangle Bait & Tackle in Snohomish. (Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office)
Police: Troopers tried to stop driver before deadly crash in Snohomish

The man, 31, was driving at “a high rate of speed” when he crashed into a traffic light pole and died, investigators said.

Alan Dean, who is accused of the 1993 strangulation murder of 15-year-old Bothell girl Melissa Lee, appears in court during opening statements of his trial on Monday, March 18, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
31 years later, trial opens in Bothell teen’s brutal killing

In April 1993, Melissa Lee’s body was found below Edgewater Creek Bridge. It would take 27 years to arrest Alan Dean in her death.

Logo for news use featuring the municipality of Snohomish in Snohomish County, Washington. 220118
Man dies after crashing into pole in Snohomish

Just before 1 a.m., the driver crashed into a traffic light pole at the intersection of 2nd Street and Maple Avenue.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.