Animal Welfare Professionals

We are wanting to begin a reading program as a calming time spent with dogs in their kennels. Looking for experiences others may have doing this activity, best ways to start and good strategies to include. What possible road blocks we may encounter, any other helpful info. Thanks !

We just started this program a few months ago. It has been more successful now that school is out. We had pretty much no one at first, but now we have several people come every week. We're a small rural shelter (4 paid employees and a handful of volunteers) and families are always looking for free summer activities as well.  
We put a flyer out, advertised on social media, and a local news outlet came and did a brief (2 min) human interest story on our program. I contacted the local school libraries and asked if they would like to partner with us for their summer reading program. I have a sign-in sheet and it includes local school of attendance. At the end of summer, I'll send that to each school, who will provide a little extra incentive for their students. This is also a great quick activity for day camps and service organizations. When people sign in, we direct them to certain dogs who need extra enrichment. Dogs stay in their kennels (puppies in crates). People are encouraged to bring their own book from the library of their choice, but we have a small selection of about 20 books curated from yard sales, donations, resale stores, etc that are all dog-related (think Harry the Dirty Dog or Walter the Farting Dog). Most people sit on the floor (we've got some blankets or towels, but kids don't mind) and we have a folding chair or two available as well. We also have hand sanitizer available especially in the puppy area.

Our flyer says Wednesday afternoons, but we still allow people to participate any afternoon if they ask. We didn't put a specific time frame because our facility is so small, we didn't want to risk having a lot of people show up at once and it get cramped and chaotic. People filter in and out organically on their own and most people stay about 30-45 minutes. Once they finish reading, they almost always walk through and visit all the kennels. We also have our email posted for them to share pictures and encourage them to tag us on social media. We have had a lot of positive feedback so far from this program. 

We are wanting to begin a reading program as a calming time spent with dogs in their kennels. Looking for experiences others may have doing this activity, best ways to start and good strategies to include. What possible road blocks we may encounter, any other helpful info. Thanks !

This is a wonderful program. Do you have readers come and read all at once or do you give each reader a time slot so there is one reading at a time? Thanks for sharing this great community outreach activity. 

We just started this program a few months ago. It has been more successful now that school is out. We had pretty much no one at first, but now we have several people come every week. We're a small rural shelter (4 paid employees and a handful of volunteers) and families are always looking for free summer activities as well.  
We put a flyer out, advertised on social media, and a local news outlet came and did a brief (2 min) human interest story on our program. I contacted the local school libraries and asked if they would like to partner with us for their summer reading program. I have a sign-in sheet and it includes local school of attendance. At the end of summer, I'll send that to each school, who will provide a little extra incentive for their students. This is also a great quick activity for day camps and service organizations. When people sign in, we direct them to certain dogs who need extra enrichment. Dogs stay in their kennels (puppies in crates). People are encouraged to bring their own book from the library of their choice, but we have a small selection of about 20 books curated from yard sales, donations, resale stores, etc that are all dog-related (think Harry the Dirty Dog or Walter the Farting Dog). Most people sit on the floor (we've got some blankets or towels, but kids don't mind) and we have a folding chair or two available as well. We also have hand sanitizer available especially in the puppy area.

Our flyer says Wednesday afternoons, but we still allow people to participate any afternoon if they ask. We didn't put a specific time frame because our facility is so small, we didn't want to risk having a lot of people show up at once and it get cramped and chaotic. People filter in and out organically on their own and most people stay about 30-45 minutes. Once they finish reading, they almost always walk through and visit all the kennels. We also have our email posted for them to share pictures and encourage them to tag us on social media. We have had a lot of positive feedback so far from this program. 

We are wanting to begin a reading program as a calming time spent with dogs in their kennels. Looking for experiences others may have doing this activity, best ways to start and good strategies to include. What possible road blocks we may encounter, any other helpful info. Thanks !

We just started this program a few months ago. It has been more successful now that school is out. We had pretty much no one at first, but now we have several people come every week. We're a small rural shelter (4 paid employees and a handful of volunteers) and families are always looking for free summer activities as well.  
We put a flyer out, advertised on social media, and a local news outlet came and did a brief (2 min) human interest story on our program. I contacted the local school libraries and asked if they would like to partner with us for their summer reading program. I have a sign-in sheet and it includes local school of attendance. At the end of summer, I'll send that to each school, who will provide a little extra incentive for their students. This is also a great quick activity for day camps and service organizations. When people sign in, we direct them to certain dogs who need extra enrichment. Dogs stay in their kennels (puppies in crates). People are encouraged to bring their own book from the library of their choice, but we have a small selection of about 20 books curated from yard sales, donations, resale stores, etc that are all dog-related (think Harry the Dirty Dog or Walter the Farting Dog). Most people sit on the floor (we've got some blankets or towels, but kids don't mind) and we have a folding chair or two available as well. We also have hand sanitizer available especially in the puppy area.

Our flyer says Wednesday afternoons, but we still allow people to participate any afternoon if they ask. We didn't put a specific time frame because our facility is so small, we didn't want to risk having a lot of people show up at once and it get cramped and chaotic. People filter in and out organically on their own and most people stay about 30-45 minutes. Once they finish reading, they almost always walk through and visit all the kennels. We also have our email posted for them to share pictures and encourage them to tag us on social media. We have had a lot of positive feedback so far from this program. 

We are wanting to begin a reading program as a calming time spent with dogs in their kennels. Looking for experiences others may have doing this activity, best ways to start and good strategies to include. What possible road blocks we may encounter, any other helpful info. Thanks !

What a great program! We sometimes have children who come in to read to the cats. We have not found a way to include reading to the dogs due to the noise level in the kennels whenever a stranger enters. How have you dealt with the barking issue?   Our kennels are double sided guillotine type with chain link doors on the front. Once one dog starts barking they all start. 

We just started this program a few months ago. It has been more successful now that school is out. We had pretty much no one at first, but now we have several people come every week. We're a small rural shelter (4 paid employees and a handful of volunteers) and families are always looking for free summer activities as well.  
We put a flyer out, advertised on social media, and a local news outlet came and did a brief (2 min) human interest story on our program. I contacted the local school libraries and asked if they would like to partner with us for their summer reading program. I have a sign-in sheet and it includes local school of attendance. At the end of summer, I'll send that to each school, who will provide a little extra incentive for their students. This is also a great quick activity for day camps and service organizations. When people sign in, we direct them to certain dogs who need extra enrichment. Dogs stay in their kennels (puppies in crates). People are encouraged to bring their own book from the library of their choice, but we have a small selection of about 20 books curated from yard sales, donations, resale stores, etc that are all dog-related (think Harry the Dirty Dog or Walter the Farting Dog). Most people sit on the floor (we've got some blankets or towels, but kids don't mind) and we have a folding chair or two available as well. We also have hand sanitizer available especially in the puppy area.

Our flyer says Wednesday afternoons, but we still allow people to participate any afternoon if they ask. We didn't put a specific time frame because our facility is so small, we didn't want to risk having a lot of people show up at once and it get cramped and chaotic. People filter in and out organically on their own and most people stay about 30-45 minutes. Once they finish reading, they almost always walk through and visit all the kennels. We also have our email posted for them to share pictures and encourage them to tag us on social media. We have had a lot of positive feedback so far from this program. 

We are wanting to begin a reading program as a calming time spent with dogs in their kennels. Looking for experiences others may have doing this activity, best ways to start and good strategies to include. What possible road blocks we may encounter, any other helpful info. Thanks !

We are wanting to begin a reading program as a calming time spent with dogs in their kennels. Looking for experiences others may have doing this activity, best ways to start and good strategies to include. What possible road blocks we may encounter, any other helpful info. Thanks !

Hey! 

So our reading program is called Paws For Reading. I typically have it scheduled before we open or on days we are closed so that it doesn't affect the overall flow of the shelter while it's open. We run it on our own but have also partnered with one of the local libraries and offer one day a month for them and it's also booked. We do limit it to 10 kids an event due to spacing. We utilize our visiting rooms and cat condo rooms and set them up with an animal and the kids are able to go into each room and read for about 5 minutes before the rotate into another room. We've also used guinea pigs and rabbits when we've had them as well. We run ours for typically an hour a session. 

But now I'm thinking this would be a great opportunity for older kids in the summertime and we can have them sign up for 30 minute time slots so it's not overwhelming for us our the animals. we house roughly 500+ cats and dogs and are short staffed in every department currently but that may be doable of it's set up like that for us.... lol just brain storming out loud!

We are wanting to begin a reading program as a calming time spent with dogs in their kennels. Looking for experiences others may have doing this activity, best ways to start and good strategies to include. What possible road blocks we may encounter, any other helpful info. Thanks !

Hey! 

So our reading program is called Paws For Reading. I typically have it scheduled before we open or on days we are closed so that it doesn't affect the overall flow of the shelter while it's open. We run it on our own but have also partnered with one of the local libraries and offer one day a month for them and it's also booked. We do limit it to 10 kids an event due to spacing. We utilize our visiting rooms and cat condo rooms and set them up with an animal and the kids are able to go into each room and read for about 5 minutes before the rotate into another room. We've also used guinea pigs and rabbits when we've had them as well. We run ours for typically an hour a session. 

But now I'm thinking this would be a great opportunity for older kids in the summertime and we can have them sign up for 30 minute time slots so it's not overwhelming for us our the animals. we house roughly 500+ cats and dogs and are short staffed in every department currently but that may be doable of it's set up like that for us.... lol just brain storming out loud!

We are wanting to begin a reading program as a calming time spent with dogs in their kennels. Looking for experiences others may have doing this activity, best ways to start and good strategies to include. What possible road blocks we may encounter, any other helpful info. Thanks !

Thank you All for the wonderful response and ideas for moving forward!! Partnering with libraries is great! Getting the word out to the Community also so helpful! We will have to experiment with times and placement for sure

Hey! 

So our reading program is called Paws For Reading. I typically have it scheduled before we open or on days we are closed so that it doesn't affect the overall flow of the shelter while it's open. We run it on our own but have also partnered with one of the local libraries and offer one day a month for them and it's also booked. We do limit it to 10 kids an event due to spacing. We utilize our visiting rooms and cat condo rooms and set them up with an animal and the kids are able to go into each room and read for about 5 minutes before the rotate into another room. We've also used guinea pigs and rabbits when we've had them as well. We run ours for typically an hour a session. 

But now I'm thinking this would be a great opportunity for older kids in the summertime and we can have them sign up for 30 minute time slots so it's not overwhelming for us our the animals. we house roughly 500+ cats and dogs and are short staffed in every department currently but that may be doable of it's set up like that for us.... lol just brain storming out loud!

We are wanting to begin a reading program as a calming time spent with dogs in their kennels. Looking for experiences others may have doing this activity, best ways to start and good strategies to include. What possible road blocks we may encounter, any other helpful info. Thanks !

If it hasn't been mentioned yet, reach out to Tails that Teach. They have a book donation program. Our shelter took advantage of this no-cost program and has used the books so far for a camp who came to read to the dogs (outside) and then each child got to take a book home. The book they send is a story that actually teaches the kids how to properly interact with dogs, so it pulls double duty AND you get to send them home with a free gift. 
https://www.tailsthatteach.org/shelter-programs

Thank you All for the wonderful response and ideas for moving forward!! Partnering with libraries is great! Getting the word out to the Community also so helpful! We will have to experiment with times and placement for sure

Hey! 

So our reading program is called Paws For Reading. I typically have it scheduled before we open or on days we are closed so that it doesn't affect the overall flow of the shelter while it's open. We run it on our own but have also partnered with one of the local libraries and offer one day a month for them and it's also booked. We do limit it to 10 kids an event due to spacing. We utilize our visiting rooms and cat condo rooms and set them up with an animal and the kids are able to go into each room and read for about 5 minutes before the rotate into another room. We've also used guinea pigs and rabbits when we've had them as well. We run ours for typically an hour a session. 

But now I'm thinking this would be a great opportunity for older kids in the summertime and we can have them sign up for 30 minute time slots so it's not overwhelming for us our the animals. we house roughly 500+ cats and dogs and are short staffed in every department currently but that may be doable of it's set up like that for us.... lol just brain storming out loud!

We are wanting to begin a reading program as a calming time spent with dogs in their kennels. Looking for experiences others may have doing this activity, best ways to start and good strategies to include. What possible road blocks we may encounter, any other helpful info. Thanks !