I love getting emails for Ivan. This one asked for help with the summer reading camp in Scott County. How could we refuse? Ivan was thrilled to help.
This was one of the biggest reading programs Ivan had ever worked with. Almost 20 kids in groups of two or three. Ivan was a trooper. He greeted each kid, handed out kisses and tail wags as needed and got down to business.
He listened attentively, occasionally putting a paw out to show concern with a possible mispronunciation. Ivan loves a good tail, er tale, and has a special fondness for stories about dogs and other animals.
I love to see the interaction of the kids with Ivan and the books. The reading dogs are part of the "pleasure reading" station at camp. The kids get to choose what they read to the dogs and, boy howdy, are they excited! And then they get to do something we adults rarely get a chance to do: read a story aloud to an adoring audience.
Do you remember when reading was an adventure? Learning new words, figuring out the patterns that make up language, deciphering the messages on each page? Do you take it for granted now? I mean, when was the last time you actually thought about reading? Watching these kids dive into the adventure of reading brought it all back to me.
So here is my challenge to you: go looking for a good book, dive into it and read it out loud to someone who adores you. It is a blast!
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I love the concept of World Book Night. What is there not to love? They give you a box of the books you most want to give away and you get to give them away. This year the list of potential titles was awesome. I was having the hardest time deciding until I saw Norman Juster's The Phantom Tollbooth.
I first read this book as a kid, and then re-read it in college, and periodically I take it down off the shelf on a rainy weekend and read it all over again. It is just that kind of a book. Timeless, with a thread of humor that is just wicked enough to make you giggle to yourself.
So I selected the Phantom Tollbooth and thought about all the ways I could share it with others. My church does a yearlong reading program with fourth and fifth graders and I thought this might be the perfect place. Luckily, the program leaders agreed to both the book and the idea of Ivan helping to pass it out.
I tried to make cookies for the event in the shape of letters. Epic fail! They puffed up and out and all over. No longer recognizable as letters. Wrong sugar cookie recipe for crispy edged letters. So luckily the local grocery store had some. Nabisco to the rescue!
Ivan was thrilled to be there. The kids were a bit of a hard sell on the book. It was going to be a stretch for them but it is such a great book, I still think it will be a book they come to treasure.
After we read the first chapter, introducing the kids to Milo, we went on to the real reason they were there: Reading Club. The kids split into small groups and paired up with an adult reader. Ivan got to read with each group. He still does not quite understand why anyone would pick a book over playing with him. But he was a good sport about it and the kids loved him.
It is so much fun to watch kids get into reading, playing with words, thinking about meanings and translating the message into something relevant to their own lives. I don't remember learning to read per se but I do remember sitting in my Dad's lap reading the "funnies" each night in the newspaper. I loved our together time and the feeling of security being held in his arms. Hopefully, Ivan will eventually come to understand that sitting next to someone while they read you a story is one of life's wonderful moments!
One of the things they stress in therapy dog training is to make sure your dog is comfortable and well-behaved in various settings. Even before your pup is 100% accurate at home, you should take him out in public to re-enforce all those commands. Easily said. How many folks out there have had their placid little Fido turn into a ravening beasts at the sight of Fidette at the park?
So Ivan and I took to the streets. We walked through crowds. We introduced ourselves to complete strangers with and without dogs. To this day, I have not been able to convince Ivan that he can wait to be introduced. Although now, he confines himself to trying to sit on a tail wagging so hard you can barely see it. Still I keep taking him out in the hopes that he will catch on.
So one Sunday not long ago, we got ready for a full complement of weekend activities. I dressed for church but packed for a horse show later that afternoon. Off we went. Arriving at St. John's Episcopal Church in Versailles, I was fully prepared to tether Ivan to the jungle gym but got talked out of it by the other usher who thought Ivan would be an ideal Greeter. Well, okay, I thought: ideal opportunity to practice "peaceful greeting."
Ivan, of course, thought this was grand. Seriously, everyone thought Ivan was adorable and Ivan thought they had all come to church to tell him so. We remained on the front steps until the choir filed in and then prepared to head off to the jungle gym. But my fellow usher convinced me that Ivan was up to the challenge. I was skeptical that Ivan would behave once we go into the church. I should not have worried. Ivan was a complete gentleman. He stood when we did, sat when we did, and lay down when we knelt. He thought the exchange of the peace was heaven. Who knew Ivan was Episcopalian?
After church we headed off to the horse show. I was riding high on Ivan's success in church. I should have thought about how tired good behavior can make a puppy. Paying attention and behaving is exhausting to a puppy. Ivan was tired going into the show and being left with others or being tethered was just too much. Ivan whined and whimpered all afternoon long.
Mea culpa. None of this was his fault.. I should have known that he was going to reach his limit at some point during the afternoon. Lesson learned: puppies need down time in order to become geniuses.
