Critters Care Story Time--"Greta's Purpose"

On Tuesday, May 14, and Wednesday, May 15, Chloe and I had the great pleasure to work with Sarah Magill and her Great Dane, Diesel, for a story time presentation at Browning Elementary. We worked with Ms. Stern’s 4th grade class on Tuesday and Ms. Crow’s 3rd grade class on Wednesday. Both
classes heard the story “Greta’s Purpose”, which takes the listeners on the journey of an awkward Great Dane puppy looking for her purpose in life. Along the way she meets a police dog, a couple of sheep herding canines, a service dog for a handicapped woman, a “beagle brigade” that searches for illegal fruit, vegetable, and meat being brought into the country at airports, and a seeing-eye pup for a blind person. Each time she feels defeated, as she cannot see herself in any of these roles since she is so large and clumsy. But finally one day her owners take her along to a nursing home where they visit an elderly relative, who immediately perks up when she sees Greta and falls in love with this gentle giant. It is then that Greta feels she has found her calling

Diesel

in life and begins to work as a therapy canine to visit hospitals and nursing homes. The students were very engaged with this beautiful story, and were even more enamored learning about Diesel and his own personal tale, where his previous owners suffered a home fire and could no longer take care of him. So Sarah lovingly took him into her home and he has been spoiled ever since. Of course his size—160 pounds—does make him a “scene stealer” wherever they go, and he definitely took up quite the presence in the classrooms. This was Diesel’s first educational outreach experience and he was quite the engaging ambassador. All the students had an opportunity to ask questions about this new visitor, and were quite surprised when at one point during both presentations he began to “talk” and then let out a huge Great Dane bark, which took them all aback as Chloe is always the silent one. I thought it was a great educational experience for them to realize that a dog’s bark doesn’t necessarily mean they are expressing aggression, but rather are simply communicating in their special

Diesel & Sarah

canine way. I also introduced the students to other kinds of service dogs, such as those that search for mines in the battlefield, work as “actors”, pull sleds, help with the deaf, and even search for truffles. The culminating activity was for students to pair up and create posters for an upcoming fictional “2013 Dog Hero Contest”. They were assigned a particular service dog and their courageous deed, then asked to come up with a poster asking for people to vote for their pup to win the “Dog Hero of the Year”
Award. I gave them a couple days to work with the posters and was very impressed with their final products. It was truly a special experience for all involved—students, teachers, handlers, and pups—and a wonderful way to start closing out the spring school year!

                                                         Student Hero Posters

Choe's Tales

On Monday Canine Reading Ambassador Chloe & I had an opportunity to hold our literacy sessions outside due to the fact the room we typically work in was being used for "Stanford testing".  It was a perfect day for doing so as Mother Nature blessed us with such great weather.  Of course it was a bit distracting for Chloe as all her senses were in stimulation overload!  Oh, if only the weather would be like this all year long.  But we know the Texas summer will hit us soon enough, so enjoyed this blissful experience with nature :-)

Leah

Gerado

Samuel

Jezelle

Gabriel

Savanah

Critters Care Story Time--"If You Were a Parrot"

Telling the tale!

showing off B.C.

On Tuesday, May 7th, I had the wonderful opportunity to work with a small group of Garden's Elementary autistic students for a story time presentation regarding the whimsical tale "If You Were a Parrot".  This fun book takes listeners on a journey of what their life would be like if they were one of these colorful birds.  For example, with feet that have 2 toes in front and 3 facing backward they would be able to climb curtains, bookshelves, and plants.  And with a hooked beak they would be able to chew through furniture legs and eat a popsicle--stick and all! Of course I brought canine Chloe and feathered one B.C. along as my Animal Ambassadors, which really excited the kids as I'm sure none of them had experienced an up close meeting with a parrot.  I believe though they all enjoyed the story, they loved meeting the Animal Ambassadors more.  Following the tale, I brought B.C. out of his carrier to show them some of his unique characteristics.  Such as the fact he is missing one toe nail because of a fight he got into with a Macaw at the pet store before I adopted him (obviously the Macaw won!); that he uses his foot to eat a cracker, which I had him demonstrate with a wheat thin treat I had brought along; and that he is 29 years old, but this is yet young for him!    After this they were all given the chance to come and pet Chloe for a picture, as well as look at B.C. more closely while he safely sat in his carrier.  It was a great session and really enjoyed the chance to bring a new experience for these delightful kids.
 

Some of the students giving Chloe loving hugs (notice B.C. in the background watching with wonder!)

Kids eying B.C. up close while he is safely contained :-)

All the kids with Chloe & B.C.

Critters Care Story Time--"The Lucky, The Tale of Two Dogs"

On Friday, April 12, I had a fantastic opportunity to introduce another new team to Browning Elementary when Sarah Magill, with her rescue pup Barbie, accompanied Chloe & me.  We presented to Ms. Steury's 3rd grade class where I read the story "The Lucky Tale of Two Dogs" that traces the lives of two canines who happen to live "in the very same town, on the very same street," but who share very different lives with their families.  The lucky dog has lots of daily interaction

Barbie

with his family, from playtime to walks around the neighborhood.  The unlucky dog spends most of his time alone in the backyard "rarely hearing a friendly voice."  These comparisons give way to hope when the unlucky dog meets a "kind lady" from the animal shelter who helps him find a new "family to love."  The book tells a simple story that makes it easy for children to understand what dogs need to be healthy and happy. 

After the story I had the class participate in a Venn Diagram activity where they compared the differences and similarities that existed between these 2 situations prior to the unlucky dog being rescued.  For example, they both were given food and water (although the unlucky one not in as healthy a way as the lucky one), but differed in the attention and human interaction they experienced.  Sarah and I then related the rescue stories of both Chloe and Barbie, after which the students again participated in another Venn Diagram activity relating the similarities and differences before they were rescued and

Reading the story while Chloe explores the classroom

afterward.  For example, both Chloe and Barbie came from neglectful situations, but unlike Chloe, Barbie had a litter of puppies found with her.  And after their rescues they were both very much timid and afraid, but through time became very loving and trusting.  However, they differed in that Chloe has found her forever home with my husband and I, but Barbie is still being fostered by Sarah--though I, for one, would love Sarah to keep her ;-)

I was extremely proud of Barbie as this was her first time to work in a school environment and she did exceptionally well.  All the kids got a chance to pet her and get their pictures taken before we departed, and Barbie seemed quite at home with all the youngsters.  Of course Chloe was her usual "chilled" pupster having become quite the Browning campus mascot!

Students were very excited about story time's question/answer opportunity!

Sarah was a great help and the kids loved hearing Barbie's rescue story!

Barbie was a real natural for photos with the kiddos

Of course Chloe is used to these events as she is practically the Browning school mascot!

                                                      

Barbie getting some love from the students

Critters Care Story Time--"Henry the Dog with No Tail"

On Tuesday, April 2, I had the great opportunity to work with 2 teams for a story time presentation at Browning Elementary regarding the tale "Henry, the Dog with No Tail".  Jeff with his Australian Shepherd, Henry, who have participated in presentations and reading events with me before, and then a new team consisting of my father, Russ, and his dog, Cleo--a Newfoundland mix.  My 2 canine ambassadors--Serenity and Chloe--accompanied me while my mom assisted in picture taking.  We worked with Ms. Crow's 3rd grade students that were very excited to have so many loving pups in their classroom!  I started the presentation with having the kids guess the various dog breeds that

they were meeting and was not too surprised to hear "Pit Bull", "German Shepherd", "Labrador", and "Golden Retriever" as these are the dogs they are most familiar with.  I then read them this delightful tale that takes the listeners through the journey of Henry, who feels different from his other canine friends because he lacks a tail, so goes in search to find one for himself.  Along the way he begins to discover how a tail doesn't necessarily work for him, and in the end accepts his unique qualities, as well as do his other friends with paws.

Showing off Serenity's "butterfly-like" ears

After story time, I introduced the kids to the various breeds that these Canine Ambassadors represented--Australian Shepherd (Henry), Newfoundland (Cleo), Dachshund & Papillion mix (Serenity).  Since I have no clue as to Chloe's mix, I left her as a guess by the students.  The kids learned about the different aspects of each breed, as well as each Canine

Ambassadors individual stories and unique personalities.  For example, the word "Papillion" comes from the French word that means "butterfly", which the ears resemble (and a prominent physical trait of Serenity).  And though Henry's breed is known for loving to work and herd, Henry's favorite activity is just lazing around--although he does sometimes "herd" some small pups at the local dog park!  And despite the fact Cleo is about half the size of a true Newfoundland, which can reach up to 120 pounds for a female, she still maintains many of the breeds features.  But is different in that she does not care to be in the water (Newfies are notorious water lovers that are known for hauling heavy fishing nets through cold water and saving people from drowning).  And Serenity performed her mix to par.  Dachshunds are known for being tenacious hunters that would follow their quarry, enter its burrow, pull it out and kill it.  In short (pun intended) they love to sniff around on the ground.  So when I placed Serenity on the classroom floor that was the first thing she did--sniff all around.  The Papillion breed, on the other hand, is not known for performing a particular task, but rather for being a popular breed among nobility and serve as wonderful lap dogs that also loves to be held.  Serenity exhibited this trait, after she was done sniffing around, by yipping at me to pick her up.  The kids definitely got a great kick out of her performance. 

Lastly the students had an opportunity to ask questions about all the dogs that were present, and one of my favorite youngster comment was "If Chloe is not any kind of breed, is she a mystery dog?"  So I guess I can dub her as my "Mystery Mutt"!

My pops, Russ, telling the class about his pup, Cleo

Henry watching his owner intently while Chloe does

 her "chill" act!

Jeff talking about his pup, Henry