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Therapy dog gives a listening ear to readers
By DANIELLE RUSH
Tribune staff writer
RUSSIAVILLE — If there was a popularity contest at
Western Intermediate School on Friday, Coco would win,
paws down.
As it prances down the hallway, accompanied by trainer Tiffany Todd, Coco, a 21/2-year-old Australian Labradoodle,
prompts choruses of “ohhh” and “aww” from students passing by. But the dog takes it in stride, because it’s not there to play
— Coco has a job to do.
Coco is a certified therapy dog, with more than two years of training under its collar. It can work in hospitals, nursing homes
or schools. At Western Intermediate School, Coco is a reading therapy dog, working with six students for 15 to 20 minutes
each on Fridays. The “Read and Paws” program started after students returned from Christmas break.
Each student takes a turn sitting in a comfy bean bag chair in the reading room, with Coco curled up close. The student reads
a book, usually with a dog theme, to Coco, which provides nudges or licks of encouragement if the child gets stuck on a word.
“She senses when they get stuck,” Todd said. “She licks them or gives them some positive feedback.”
Fourth-grader Derek Harshman is one of the students who works with Coco. He was nervous at first, because he was
attacked by a dog when he was younger, but now he’s perfectly comfortable snuggled up with Coco, reading to it from “Hotel
for Dogs.”
“I like the way Coco listens when I read,” he said, adding that he tried to read to his own dogs at home, but “they just jump
up and lick me.”
Todd said Coco provides a non-judgmental, listening ear to the reader and does not embarrass or correct him. The dog also
makes it cool for the student to be taken out of class for some extra reading help.
“It’s not like, ‘Oh, you have to go down to the reading room,’ it’s ‘You get to go read to a dog.’ Therapy dogs have been proven
to help children who are struggling with reading because it is a non-threatening approach to learning.”
Wendi Campbell, intermediate school reading specialist, said the program is “a unique and exciting way to get kids to love
reading.”
She said a few of the six children who work with Coco were reluctant readers, but they look forward to reading with the dog.
“When she lays up against them, you can see them relax,” Campbell said. She chose the six children she thought would
benefit most from extra help, not just in reading skills, but staying focused and behaving correctly.
She will monitor the children’s reading progress and collect data on how effective it is to have a dog at school, she said, but
she’s already seeing benefits.
“Socially, it gives the kids who come here something to be proud of. It’s also a positive reinforcer.”
Campbell said one of the children has had behavioral issues, but since Coco came, “he’s been perfect, in anticipation of
Friday.”
She said she would love to be able to have the same opportunity for more children, and Todd is also working toward that goal.
Her second Labradoodle, Cody, 8 months, has just started its training to be certified.
Todd, a registered nurse, said she learned about therapy dogs through her work at St. Vincent Heart Hospital and Howard
Regional Health System.
She’s seen the benefits to patients of having therapy dogs in the Indianapolis hospitals, and decided she wanted to buy and
train a therapy dog herself. Todd bought Coco from Noble Vestal Labradoodles in Noblesville, which specializes in service
dogs. Both of Coco’s parents were therapy dogs as well.
She said Australian Labradoodles are a mix of 10 breeds of dog, including Labrador retriever and poodle, and were bred for
“their clever and intuitive nature and non-shedding coats.”
The day she picked Coco up from the breeder, the two began training at Fetch Academy in Indianapolis. The pair then took a
therapy dog class and Coco earned certification as a therapy dog with Paws and Think in Indianapolis.
Todd and Coco then started advanced dog obedience classes at First Friends K9 Training in Fishers, to earn certification
through the Delta Society, which is “the highest level of testing that you can take to be certified,” she said.
“The Delta test is very intense and one mistake is a fail on the test,” Todd said. With Delta certification, Todd and Coco also
have liability insurance.
Todd and Coco’s services don’t cost Western anything — they are volunteers. They come on Fridays, when Todd is off work.
Todd said she chose Western because she graduated from Western High School in 2003.
Campbell appreciates having the extra help, at a time when government officials are pressuring schools to have every child
reading at grade level.
The Indiana Legislature is considering a bill that would require children to be reading at grade level before being promoted
from third to fourth grade.
“This couldn’t have come at a better time,” she said.
• Danielle Rush is the Kokomo Tribune education reporter. She can be reached at 765-454-8585 or danielle.
rush@kokomotribune.com.
http://www.kokomotribune.com/local/local_story_032222723.html
By DANIELLE RUSH
Tribune staff writer
RUSSIAVILLE — If there was a popularity contest at
Western Intermediate School on Friday, Coco would win,
paws down.
As it prances down the hallway, accompanied by trainer Tiffany Todd, Coco, a 21/2-year-old Australian Labradoodle,
prompts choruses of “ohhh” and “aww” from students passing by. But the dog takes it in stride, because it’s not there to play
— Coco has a job to do.
Coco is a certified therapy dog, with more than two years of training under its collar. It can work in hospitals, nursing homes
or schools. At Western Intermediate School, Coco is a reading therapy dog, working with six students for 15 to 20 minutes
each on Fridays. The “Read and Paws” program started after students returned from Christmas break.
Each student takes a turn sitting in a comfy bean bag chair in the reading room, with Coco curled up close. The student reads
a book, usually with a dog theme, to Coco, which provides nudges or licks of encouragement if the child gets stuck on a word.
“She senses when they get stuck,” Todd said. “She licks them or gives them some positive feedback.”
Fourth-grader Derek Harshman is one of the students who works with Coco. He was nervous at first, because he was
attacked by a dog when he was younger, but now he’s perfectly comfortable snuggled up with Coco, reading to it from “Hotel
for Dogs.”
“I like the way Coco listens when I read,” he said, adding that he tried to read to his own dogs at home, but “they just jump
up and lick me.”
Todd said Coco provides a non-judgmental, listening ear to the reader and does not embarrass or correct him. The dog also
makes it cool for the student to be taken out of class for some extra reading help.
“It’s not like, ‘Oh, you have to go down to the reading room,’ it’s ‘You get to go read to a dog.’ Therapy dogs have been proven
to help children who are struggling with reading because it is a non-threatening approach to learning.”
Wendi Campbell, intermediate school reading specialist, said the program is “a unique and exciting way to get kids to love
reading.”
She said a few of the six children who work with Coco were reluctant readers, but they look forward to reading with the dog.
“When she lays up against them, you can see them relax,” Campbell said. She chose the six children she thought would
benefit most from extra help, not just in reading skills, but staying focused and behaving correctly.
She will monitor the children’s reading progress and collect data on how effective it is to have a dog at school, she said, but
she’s already seeing benefits.
“Socially, it gives the kids who come here something to be proud of. It’s also a positive reinforcer.”
Campbell said one of the children has had behavioral issues, but since Coco came, “he’s been perfect, in anticipation of
Friday.”
She said she would love to be able to have the same opportunity for more children, and Todd is also working toward that goal.
Her second Labradoodle, Cody, 8 months, has just started its training to be certified.
Todd, a registered nurse, said she learned about therapy dogs through her work at St. Vincent Heart Hospital and Howard
Regional Health System.
She’s seen the benefits to patients of having therapy dogs in the Indianapolis hospitals, and decided she wanted to buy and
train a therapy dog herself. Todd bought Coco from Noble Vestal Labradoodles in Noblesville, which specializes in service
dogs. Both of Coco’s parents were therapy dogs as well.
She said Australian Labradoodles are a mix of 10 breeds of dog, including Labrador retriever and poodle, and were bred for
“their clever and intuitive nature and non-shedding coats.”
The day she picked Coco up from the breeder, the two began training at Fetch Academy in Indianapolis. The pair then took a
therapy dog class and Coco earned certification as a therapy dog with Paws and Think in Indianapolis.
Todd and Coco then started advanced dog obedience classes at First Friends K9 Training in Fishers, to earn certification
through the Delta Society, which is “the highest level of testing that you can take to be certified,” she said.
“The Delta test is very intense and one mistake is a fail on the test,” Todd said. With Delta certification, Todd and Coco also
have liability insurance.
Todd and Coco’s services don’t cost Western anything — they are volunteers. They come on Fridays, when Todd is off work.
Todd said she chose Western because she graduated from Western High School in 2003.
Campbell appreciates having the extra help, at a time when government officials are pressuring schools to have every child
reading at grade level.
The Indiana Legislature is considering a bill that would require children to be reading at grade level before being promoted
from third to fourth grade.
“This couldn’t have come at a better time,” she said.
• Danielle Rush is the Kokomo Tribune education reporter. She can be reached at 765-454-8585 or danielle.
rush@kokomotribune.com.
http://www.kokomotribune.com/local/local_story_032222723.html
Here to listen: Austin Dill, a
Western Intermediate
School third-grader, reads a
book with Coco at his side.
Coco is a certified reading
therapy dog and provides a
nudge or lick if children get
stuck on a word.
None / KT photo by Tim Bath
Western Intermediate
School third-grader, reads a
book with Coco at his side.
Coco is a certified reading
therapy dog and provides a
nudge or lick if children get
stuck on a word.
None / KT photo by Tim Bath