Editor’s note: This article is available in Spanish here.
Berkeley, an 11-year-old golden labrador mix, comes to the Los Osos library every Wednesday to provide a comforting ear for kids with reading anxiety.
The Paws to Read program was started around eight years ago by Kathy Baker, Berkeley’s owner and handler. According to Baker, the objective of the program is to provide non-judgemental support for young readers afraid of reading in front of others in order to boost their self-confidence.
Baker was living in Simi Valley when she was first introduced to the Paws to Read concept. She discovered a similar program in a private school in the area and thought such a program would be a good fit for Berkeley.
Before Baker and Berkeley met, Berkeley was dropped from a seeing-eye dog program because “she didn’t want to wear the harness,” Baker said.
Berkeley came into Baker’s care through a common connection, the woman who rehomed the dogs that participated in the program. Baker then put Berkeley through the Therapy Dogs International Program, where she passed a series of stringent tests to become a therapy dog. Berkeley was also required to pass the Canine Good Citizens test to ensure she presented no aggressive behavior around humans or other dogs.
Baker then relocated to the Central Coast, where she joined a Paws to Read program with Berkeley in Morro Bay. She then started one in Los Osos and similar programs have been popping up around the area – Cayucos now has a reading-to-dogs program of their own.
During her hour at the library, Berkeley lies down on the carpet, allowing young readers to tell her a story without giving them reason to fear making mistakes.
Berkeley has also been known to soothe anxious readers with her mere presence.
“There’s been numerous studies on how just petting a dog lowers your blood pressure,” Baker said.
Baker has seen the same kids come in to read to Berkeley for years and eventually develop enough confidence in their reading abilities to stop coming.
Bonnie Richan, the library’s branch manager, has worked at Los Osos for a little over two years, seeing improvement in both attitudes toward reading and reading skills as a result of the Paws to Read program.
Richan recalls a girl that read picture books to Berkeley during her initial visits to the library who now reads Berkeley full chapters from juvenile fiction books.
Richan said that reading to Berkeley gives the kids “a really positive thing to associate with reading.” She often hears Baker tell kids, “You’ve become such a good reader,” as she’s watched them evolve over the years.