Curling up with a good book on a cold night sounds good, particularly to adults. Curling up with a good book and a lovable lug of a dog sounds better, especially to children.

The La Grange Park Public Library had plenty of both, books and dogs, during its Read to the Dogs program Thursday.

The special program, offered each month in the children’s department, allows beginning readers to practice their skills by reading to a service dog. The key, said children’s librarian Meb Ingold, is that dogs tend to be pretty nonjudgmental when it comes to listening to a child learning to read.  

“It’s been discovered that when kids read to a dog, they benefit greatly because dogs don’t care if they miss a word,” she said. “It’s sort of stressful to have to read to your parents when you’re in first grade. But you know, you sit down next to a dog, besides the fact the dog is lying there so nice and calm and so happy to see you, and if you miss a word, dogs don’t care. It’s just a happy time, lots of smiles from parents, teachers, kids and dogs.”

All dogs participating in the program are certified therapy dogs. Unlike guide or service dogs, they are trained to provide positive interactions with people. Most of the dogs in the library’s program have homes in La Grange Park.

Roxanne Dwyer has participated in the program since the start. Onchu, her young, rough-coated collie, is the third dog she has introduced to the program.

“He’s making an effort,” Dwyer said. “He’s extremely friendly but because he’s still young and exuberant, to sit there for an hour is a challenge.”

It appears that some dogs may have some discriminating tastes in literature as well.
“One of our handlers had an old smooth-coated collie, Tag, who loved Dr. Seuss,” Ingold said. “He would just sort of sit there wanting to hide under a chair, but if a child was reading Dr. Seuss, boy, he would perk up his ears and look so interested. It was amazing.”