By Kate Elizabeth Queram

Special to The Sentinel

The Laurel Branch of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System hosted its seventh Read to Rover event Saturday, allowing children to read aloud to dogs from local organization Pets on Wheels.

Pets on Wheels is a non-profit volunteer organization that has provided animal companionship to people in institutional settings in Maryland since 1982. The organization has participated in the Read to Rover program in Prince George's County since fall of last year.

The program strives to make reading appealing and fun for children, said Karen Haynes, Pets on Wheels coordinator for the county.

"I can remember being in school and how scary it was to read to the class," Haynes said.

By providing a non-judgmental canine audience, Haynes said, reading becomes less scary and more fun.

Read to Rover is open to children of all ages, but research shows that children from ages 6 to 10 will benefit more and be most receptive to this type of reading program, Haynes said.

Each child gets a 15-minute slot to read to one dog. Slots are by appointment only, and the child can choose to read one of the library's books or bring one from home.

Sam Ludlam, 6, who read for the first time on Saturday, brought several books from home, all focusing on dogs.

"We thought that dogs might like to hear stories about dogs," said his mother, Shari.

The stories don't have to be about dogs, Haynes said.

"When I was training my dog Kimmy, I started by reading her only books about dogs, too – but she didn't seem to care."

Anyone with a dog can participate in the Read to Rover program, provided the dog meets certain criteria. "We look mostly for the right temperament – calm, with no aggression, the kind of dog a child could walk right up to and pet," Haynes said. "If the dog has the right temperament, we will work with you to train him for the program."

Training the dogs is mostly a matter of conditioning them to stay in one place for up to a half an hour, Haynes said.

"You put a blanket or towel on the floor and tell them that it's time to come and read," said Haynes. "You pat her, make her comfortable, and gradually increase the amount of reading and change rooms to get her used to different locations."

Jane Lydon, the branch's librarian, said she has received very positive feedback from parents of the readers, and has had many readers return to tell another story.

Read to Rover takes place on the fourth Saturday of every month at the Laurel library, but will not be held in November or December. For more information, contact the library at 301-776-6790.

People interested in enrolling their dogs in the program should contact Pets on Wheels at 410-913-5569 or via their Web site at http://www.petsonwheels.org.

Photo by Marketa Ebert