Alys, after giving us two litters of puppies in 98 and 99, went to live with Nancy and Darryl Wright in Texas. . When she was with us we did do a few sessions of obedience school and Alys did get her CGC [Canine Good Citizen] but since being with Nancy and Darryl she has become certified with Therapy Dog International [TDI] and the hundreds of hours of visits they've logged, they have visited nursing homes, hospitals ,cerebral palsy daycare and special education facilities. This past school year Nancy and the two corgis, Stony and Alys, took part in the R.E.A.D. program -reading Education Assistance dogs, of Intermountain Therapy Animals ,Salt Lake City, Utah. The three of them were the only 'team' not in Salt Lake City, and the only team in Texas. They were part of the Reading Recovery classroom at the Lake Dallas Elementary School in Lake Dallas, Texas. The students in the class were all third and fourth graders who were well below their level. Some were severely dyslexic, others had attention problems but most were from homes with poor language skills, spoke little or no English or had poor parenting skills.
Alys and Stony would enter the classroom and wait their turn. One by one student would choose their dog, select a book and curl up with Nancy on a bean bag chair to read.. Alys and Stony provided a non-critical ear for the young reader's attempt to sound out words and read aloud to the dog. For the dogs part they promised not to laugh or snicker at a mistake and to enjoy the responsibility of being a R.E.A.D dog.
 

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