Rosco my labradoodle will FINALLY soon be a reading assistance dog!

[Adina P]

Rosco passed his therapy dog evaluation (with Delta Society) last November and we've been to nursing/assisted living homes and the hospital I work for...and our latest regular gig is visiting our local Juvenile Detention Center for an hour every weekend. However, what I've really wanted to do is participate in a R.E.A.D. or Reading with Rover program with him. And yet to my knowledge there was no such program locally. I'd emailed local elementary schools and got NO interest in the idea. So I'd been putting off approaching our library waiting for more local pet teams to take/pass their Delta test so I could present them with a ready-to-go team.

Well last week I called our library and left a message for the director and lo and behold...a counselor and her therapy dog had started a "Paws for Books" program earlier this year! So far it has been just this counselor and her dog (who I know professionally, but never knew she did this!) and the librarian was thrilled that they would be able to add Rosco too!

Woohoo! I'm so excited. The program is off for the summer, but will start again in late September.

Lying down and being chill is so up Rosco's alley. He spends his time in Juvie basically napping while I try (usually unsuccessfully) to entertain the little delinquents while keeping the conversation OFF of drugs and all their little Homey G's bad boy behavior.

[bokhud88hc94]

Adina .. that is FABULOUS!!! I'm excited for both you and Rosco:-)) Keep up the good work!!

How comforting it is to hear that with some of the negative words being said about our doods. Rosco is setting such a wonderful example!!!!

That made my night:-)

[Adina P]

So far I've been lucky in that I've had almost no negative reactions from people to my face! I even take him to our local AKC Kennel Club meetings and so far everyone has been able to keep their mouths shut if they have a mean thing to say. He's so adorable though...people can't help but compliment him =)

And I have no shame either (LOL!!) because last year in desperate search for a doodle romp and coming upon no location which to hold a romp (that didn't require $1000000 insurance) I attended the kennel club's BOARD meeting in hopes they'd be willing to sponsor the event and cover me under their insurance! HA! They didn't find that to be fitting of their mission and just before it was MY turn to even make this request the final board member arrived who was a POODLE breeder! I got a kick out of asking them to help me (giggling inside despite my nervousness!).

[bokhud88hc94]

GOOD FOR YOU GIRL:-)))

I've been lucky too .. never has anyone had anything negative to say about Bear to my face. He too gets compliments all the time:-) You hear about it a lot in the press though .. and of course I've read some of the negative feedback on line! That's okay though .. our babies are here to stay! I think they are all just jealous:-)

[Richard Crowe]

Congratulations to both you and Rosco! We hope to have Holly as a therapy dog eventually.

Regarding negatives about Doodles:

I have not met anyone who hasn't been positively impressed with Holly. Most people are very interested in Doodles.

I did get one partial negative regarding an image of Holly I posted on one of my photography forums. It went something like - "There are plenty of Doodles waiting in shelters to be adopted!"

I did try at first to adopt a Doodle from a shelter There was a shelter that had a litter of Doodles and we placed our application. Judy, at the time, was the West Coast Coordinator for American Maltese Association Rescue and we had just lost our eleven year old rescue German Shepherd - Golden Retriever - Wolf mix to cancer. Additionally, we have an acre and a quarter of property surrounded by a 6' chain link fence and had put obedience titles on several dogs. We were, in fact, prime candidates to adopt a larger breed puppy.

The organization didn't contact us back after we submitted the adoption application and after two weeks we emailed them. The reply we received was basically, please don't contact us - we will contact you if you are approved.

We decided to get a Goldendoodle from a reputable breeder and found Heather Goines, just north of Dallas, Texas. We had put a deposit on the Doodle puppy who was to become Holly, when we received a congratulatory e-mail from the rescue organization saying we had been approved. We replied, thanks but, no thanks.

I am so glad that we got our Holly who is just about a perfect dog. Funny thing, she was only twice as expensive as the donation that the rescue organization wanted and we got a Doodle with a pair of healthy parents who was born in a clean environment and received loving care from the start.

[Belinda Stevens]

Richard, I think a nice response to the simi-negative comment "There are plenty of Doodles waiting in shelters to be adopted!" would be... actually there are more purebred Labs and Goldens than there are Doodles. Bottom line here are there are always going to be dogs in shelters. Its about responsible breeding! I am all for saving dogs from shelters. I have one and he has been a great dog for almost 11 years now. I would also LOVE to breed doodles but I know that I do not have the knowledge, time or the ability to do so. More people should know that about themselves and not think that it is so easy.

Sorry, I digressed on bad breeders. It’s just that’s where the negative comments (if any) should get directed.

Adina, I think it is so great what you are doing. I really hope that Stella will be patient enough for programs like that one-day. Right now it is so hard for me to imagine with all her random puppy energy and puppy attitude. But I think I see a glimmer of hope in her eyes!
Congrat on getting a handle on your new program!

[Tamara & Giada]

Our first dog is from a rescue, and I could NOT believe the "hoops we had jump through" to prove our selves! I know there are dogs in rescues that need homes, so WHY don't they change the system so people do it more?

[Joe R.]

I think one of the reasons for the hoop jumping is because of people who look for dogs to use as training for fighting dogs. As disgusting as that is, it happens. We had no problem with the process it took for us to get Lilly. One thing I think that sealed our approval though is we were willing to drive to Florida (from Maryland) to pick her up.

[Adina P]

Yeah...it's a tough one. There are some super responsible, loving pet homes out there that wouldn't pass because some of the hoops. And that is unfortunate. IDOG.biz actually sets up quite a few hoops--but it's all in the best interest of the dog. So far they've done marvelous at matching dogs and families, but they have several restrictions: physical fencing, no first time dog owners, etc....

[Tamara & Giada]

Congratulations Adina!!! How fun! Let us know how it turns out.

[Joe R.]

Congratulations to both of you. One question for you Adina. What exactly do you get through Delta other than their name. Are you covered under their insurance? Our local Humane Society has a Therapy program, which Gus and myself participate in. But it didn't take all the classes and money I read about on the Delta website. Either way congrats again and I hope the reading program is a success also .

[Adina P]

Joe, I think the training is valuable, but mainly it's the liability insurance.
However it's not that pricey! It was $15 to test and $75 to join for TWO years.
Classes are NOT required--you can do home study and read their book. I think the book is valuable because it teaches you nuances of visitations and hospital needs that most wouldn't think of if they were not in the health care industry already. The book is between $35 and $50-- I don't recall. Delta often also has local chapters so that if you join and your city has a local group you are automatically part of a team that has a good reputation and has facilities ready for you and your dog.

However, if your Humane Society already is providing this essentially...great!
Don't forget there is Therapy Dogs International and Therapy Dogs Incorporated (I think one of them does not have insurance...the latter I think).

[2fetg28jixqki]

Adina, these programs are wonderful! Thank you for getting involved with "Reading with Rosco". My son has done this program at school for 2 years. He loved it!!! He would practice with a book for a few weeks and then get to read to Rocco, cuddled up together in a bean bag chair. It was motivating and sweet. At the end of the school year we got a book with pics. and narration about his year reading with Rocco. We cherish it. Good luck and enjoy! Lisa