Piper is a little Franklin dog with a great big job! And as her owner, I’m glad to be teaming up with her! She was seemingly custom made to curl up in the lap of a child and lovingly listen as they read to her and play with her long silky ears.

A 5-year-old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Piper is a Registered Delta Therapy Dog (Go to a Page, See Blogroll: Therapy ARC) and a Reading Education Assistance Dog (Go to a Page, See Blogroll: READ).

The mission of the READ program is to improve the literacy skills of children through the assistance of registered therapy teams as literacy mentors. Piper and I make up one of many READ teams in the Middle Tennessee area.

If you would like an opportunity to meet and READ to Piper or some of her buddies, join them at the Williamson County Library on the 3rd Saturday of each month. Several teams are available for individual 15-minute appointments with a child. Advanced reservation is required, so please call 595-1244 for your appointment.

We are proud of the good work Piper and her READing Dog friends are doing in our community!

Heather Pass

Becoming a READ team

Here’s the process Piper and I went through to become a team. It took about six months.

1. To become a READing dog, you must first become a Delta Registered Pet Partner Therapy Team. The process is detailed here: http://www.therapyarc.org/Pet_Partner_Process.htm. Because of scheduling conflict with the classes, we choose to order the workbook from the Delta website and self train for the evaluation. We spent about six weeks doing this.

2. We scheduled our evaluation through the local Delta chapter: Therapy ARC http://www.therapyarc.org/. Contact Ken Bell at kensk9comcast.net. Evaluations are scheduled about four times a year. They fill up quickly.

3. After passing the evaluation, we sent in our completed registration packet and became an official therapy team.

Then, we decided to focus our Therapy by becoming a READ team.

1. First, we had to fill out the initial application online: http://readingpaws.org/Application%20for%20Training%20FormFL.htm.

2. Then we attended the one-day class to become READ certified. This class is offered a few times a year (contact Helen Wahl at Helen@READingPaws.org).

3. We began by working with the Williamson County Library once a month, and then requested a placement in a local elementary school. We are now serving at Crockett Elementary once a week.

If you have a question concerning any type of therapy work with your Franklin Dog, email it to therapy@franklindog.com.

Core Value 3: OUR COMMUNITY AND ITS HERITAGE

We believe that as dogs can enhance the lives of families and individuals, they can also connect us on an individual and community level. We look for ways to use dogs to build bridges between members of our community. We recognize accomplishments of Franklin dogs, especially in the area of service to the community, and also work with owners interested in using their dogs to reach out to others. The Franklin Dog brand embraces our community’s history and its pride as a significant Civil War battleground.

<!–[endif]–>Your interest in a dog/owner activity may have been piqued after reading about a Franklin dog owner that participated in a conformation show, agility, therapy, etc.

Everyone was a beginner at some point. Franklin Dog strives to connect owners, building bridges between members of our community and supporting recreational activities and event to help each owner fully enjoy their dog.

Whether it’s dog showing, agility, or even finding the right puppy, learning the ins and outs can be overwhelming.

Often, a breeder from which you obtain your dog naturally falls into the role of a mentor, providing one-on-one training, advice and assistance in everything from grooming, to health care, to showing, and even the eventual breeding of the dog.

However, other responsibilities or distance get in the way.

If your interest is in formal competition, you might have success working through The American Kennel Club’s New Exhibitor Mentoring Program:

http://www.akc.org/public_education/faqs_mentor.cfm

Or quite possibly, our Franklin Dog community can help by matching new exhibitors with local, experienced individuals. And your interests lie in something much less structured. It can’t hurt to ask.

If you have an interest in some personal assistance in some area, send an email to randy@franklindog.com, to find out if we know of someone in our area with experience. Or we will work through our network to find someone willing to show the ropes to a novice.

Everyone started at the beginning!

Mission Statement:

In a manner that’s distinctly Franklin, we provide services, training and supplies with the goal of helping dog owners fully enjoy their dog. We make Franklin dogs famous and serve as the local icon for all that’s good about dogs.

Franklin Dog recognizes and promotes the use of dogs in improving the lives of all members of the community. That includes supporting owners interested in using their dogs to reach out to others.

We are fortunate in Franklin to have a very active therapy dog program. Therapy ARC (Animals Reaching Clients) is affiliated with Delta Society, a leader in fostering the use of animals to improve the lives of individuals.

Chairman Ken Bell, who has been involved in therapy dog training for about 15 years, explains that classes are held in September and February and begin with two Saturdays of seminar work followed by four weeks of one-hour training sessions for owner/dog teams at Middle College High School. Total cost is $120.

Those interested in the next round of classes, beginning September 12, can contact Bell by phone (615-519-0179) or email (Kensk9@comcast.net).

For more information, click on the Therapy ARC link in our Franklin Dog blogroll.

Core Value 1: EVERYONE’S BEST FRIEND

We believe that a properly mastered dog can provide a wholesome and rejuvenating relationship for a family or individual. We recognize the therapeutic impact animals can have on special populations of medically/physically/emotionally challenged children, adults, and seniors. We value the work of reputable breeders towards producing high-quality dogs.

A story and picture to make every Franklin Dog proud is on pg. 5 of the May 20th Franklin Review Appeal section of The Tennessean. Lisa Kirchner and her therapy dog Emily served in Project READ (Reading Education Assistance Dogs) at Franklin’s Moore Elementary School.

And in “The Wag”….oh dog! Sally mentions just about every Franklin dog there is! Check it out on pg. 12.