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Stories

First Day on the Job at the Library

Judy Graham
Pet Partners Handler in Medicine Hat, Alberta Canada

Beau, a brown and white Havanese therapy dog, wearing a Pet Partners vest, with his handler Judy behind him.

This is a picture of me and Beau, my 6-year-old Havanese, going to our first day on the job as a therapy animal team after Covid delayed our start.

I retired from my job as an elementary school librarian after 18 years, but wanted to return to the school to continue to help the students with their reading. This was the inspiration to join Pet Partners and the Read With Me™ initiative! I was so proud to finally put on Beau’s vest knowing how hard we worked to become a team.

Lots of hugs for me, lots and lots of pets for Beau! We had three Grade 2 children read to Beau separately. He was a bit wiggly at first but settled in just fine. One little girl chose a cat story to read because she knew Beau was coming…LOL!

He loved the attention and performed his tricks at the end for the children to earn his treats from them. What a great hour we had!

Thanks Pet Partners for giving us the tools we needed to experience such a rewarding opportunity!