https://archive.triblive.com/news/bridgeville-librarys-therapy-dog-reading-program-a-two-way-street/
Bridgeville library's therapy dog reading program a two-way street
• |
Submitted
Ryan Stock and Walter.
For children learning to read, a pit bull mix just might be the perfect confidence boost.
Lynn Ready-Aspiotes of Bridgeville started bringing Walter, a 12-year-old certified therapy dog, to the Bridgeville Public Library two years ago for the library's Puppy Tales program. She simultaneously let her other therapy dog, Max, a Rottweiler and German shepherd mix, retire.
In November 2011, Walter was certified by Therapy Dogs International just four months after he was rescued by a humane officer in Steubenville, Ohio. He had been abandoned by his previous owner.
“Having experience with therapy dogs already, I knew the temperament and disposition that one needed,” Ready-Aspiotes said. “Within a few days of having him home, I told my husband I thought he'd be a perfect therapy dog.”
Ready-Aspiotes taught Walter, who is nearly 90 percent deaf, hand signals for nearly three months before he passed the TDI certification test on his first attempt.
“It's a win-win situation for everyone,” said Ready-Aspiotes, a substitute teacher in the Chartiers Valley School District.
“It's obviously great for the kids. I'm an elementary teacher myself, and I know from experience that building self-esteem and confidence boosts kids' motivation. Really, half the battle with kids learning to read is getting them to want to read. It's also a way to advocate for the pit bull breed.”
Once a month, Walter waits for children, such as Ava Labadie, 8, to read books to him in the back of the library.
“There has been a real improvement in Ava's reading skills since she started reading to Walter,” said Ava's mom, Sue, of Bridgeville.
“We just noticed today that she read a Clifford story to Walter, and she certainly wouldn't have been able to do that a couple months ago.”
To show her appreciation, Ava gives Walter a toy or treat before she reads to him. “Because he's cute, and he likes to look at the pictures,” Ava said.
In Walter's most recent Puppy Tales session on Jan. 18, three new children visited him.
Madeline, 5, Marissa, 8, and Ryan, 10, saw a flier for Puppy Tales and asked their mom, Kelly Stock of Bridgeville, to sign them up.
First, Marissa read the 64-page, “Small Pig,” and then Ryan read the 217-page “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth.”
Madeline, after reading, “Bunny on the Beach,” finished three more books with Walter that she had planned to check out and read at home. Altogether, the Stocks still checked out 20 books.
“Well, he listens,” Madeline said. “Sometimes, daddy falls asleep.”
Walter will host the next Puppy Tales session on Feb. 15 from 11 a.m. to noon. Parents can sign their children up at the library, though available time slots are limited.
Walter also has worked as a therapy dog elsewhere, including Country Meadows, Chartiers Valley Primary School and the Western Pennsylvania Humane Society's gift wrapping fundraiser at The Mall at Robinson over Christmas.
Shawn Annarelli is a freelance writer for Trib Total Media.
Copyright ©2026— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)