(Adrian St.Onge/CHAT News)

By Adrian St.Onge

‘We want to put smiles on people’s faces’: Children read to man’s best friend at the Medicine Hat Public Library

Mar 25, 2024 | 9:34 PM

Therapy dogs in Medicine Hat once again take center stage.

Children visiting the library this weekend had the ability to take their reading skills to the next level with Darby, a two-year-old mixed lab.

Darby listened to multiple readers over the course of a two hour period.

Melissa Stevens, Darby’s handler, said she was surprised the event was so popular, noting that Darby’s first sittings have already been claimed going into April.

With more dates yet to be added after her time in April, Stevens hopes to be able to continue.

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“The Medicine Hat Library was just so amazing to work with, so when we ran four days and all of her sports filled up with the waitlist, I was really surprised at how much interest there is, so I’m looking to book more dates and times,” Stevens said.

Norah and Nash Sandor are siblings and two of Darby’s readers. The pair said they had a really fun time reading to Darby.

“She’s soft. I can’t really explain it,” Norah said.

Nash agreed.

“She’s soft and fluffy and came make people really comfortable really easily.”

Kera Sandor, Norah and Nash’s mother, works at the public school division.

Because of her job, Sandor is familiar with therapy dogs, having previously worked with Murphy.

Sandor said that as a mother, seeing her children get the confidence to continue through reading mistakes is the most encouraging part.

“Like all morning, that’s all we talked about is how excited they were to be one on one with one because they know that when they’re out in public, you can’t touch them,” Sandor said.

“They were very excited to do that with them and read and so I think we gave a bit of confidence for a few of them, especially my daughter,” she said.

“It’s okay to feel anxious and so I’m hoping we can get back in to do that again because I think that building that confidence in reading is just a really good thing.”

Stevens said that Pet Partners has a strong program tailored towards seniors and the hospital, but that she hopes to find more time for Darby to make appearances at the library.

“There’s such a value,” she said.

“What I didn’t know what how amazing this could be to introduce little kids to big dogs who might now get that experience.”

“Especially big dogs that are calm and the children know are going to be well behaved, so I think it’s really important for the community to know that these dogs are here to do a job, that this is all volunteer and we do it because we want to put a smiled on people’s faces.”