Bow Wow boosts reading

In Cedar Park, Reagan Elementary School Librarian Beth Brymer recalls a first grader who had constant meltdowns on campus.

"It was a struggle to get him to come to school at all, a terrible struggle," said Brymer. "He would stand out in the hall and scream and yell; he did not want to be there."

Obviously, such kids can present problems, not just with their own education, but with efforts to teach other children nearby.

It was just that sort of problem that Debbie Williams had in mind when she teamed up with the "Bow Wow Reading Program," which trains dogs to sit with kids as they learn to read. It turns out, though, that there were also problems with using dogs to solve such problems.

"There was a reluctance," she said. "The dogs might bite; they might be aggressive. What would happen if there was an injury? So we had all that kind of opposition."

But at Reagan, Principal Kim Adcock was quickly sold.

"The dogs give kids a sense of confidence because they're so non-threatening and the kids feel very confident that they can read to the dog and not be judged, just have a friend sitting there to listen to them," she said.

So every Thursday, Williams and another Bow Wow program handler, Jan Henegar, bring their dogs to the Reagan library for a series of one-on-one, or rather, two-on-one, fifteen-minute sessions with a total of sixteen children. Williams' dog is Bentley, an almost five-year-old collie which went through a year-long training program. After passing a rigorous evaluation at the Austin Dog Alliance, he received a certificate from the Delta Society, an organization that facilitates therapy dog interaction with humans. That certificate brings with it the ability to purchase an insurance policy to cover the animal's work with the kids.

"When we're reading,' said Williams, "you can see that the child wants to please the dog. And I try to include the conversation with, 'What do you think Bentley thinks about that?'"

One of the youngsters in the program is six year-old Eli Kuzmack. His mother, Pam Kuzmack, is noticing a distinct improvement in his reading skills. She's noticing something else, as well. Eli has a penchant for "jumping around a lot."

"I think it just keeps him calm," she said, "because he also knows that if he jumps around, he's going to end up frightening the dog possibly."

Which brings us back to that first grader librarian Brymer was talking about.

"Second year, same class, same child," she said. "We got him started reading with the dogs and he became just a totally different child. He had just that little bit of comfort and security and safety and a little bit of different attention, other than having a grownup there. You know, the dog is just there; it's just going to love you, just going to let you pet him and help you."

"Children, when they're in the cafeteria or outside at recess, they want to know what it's like to read with the 'reading dog,'" said Williams. "And so self-esteem, you can see all the layers of insecurity just start melting away."

The Bow Wow program is so successful at Reagan, there is a waiting list to get into it. Williams is trying to recruit another dog and handler to expand it, but because of the training and certification process, it will be at least a year before that can happen, even if a volunteer comes forward soon with his or her dog.