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Stories

Glenn & Luna: Bringing Love to Reading

Glenn Schraeder
Pet Partners Handler
A man wearing a gray shirt sits with an arm around his Bernese mountain dog therapy dog.Glenn & Luna have been a Pet Partners team since 2018. Glenn calls Luna “the Love Dog” because she has so much affection to give.
They frequently make Read With Me™ visits at the library in Great Bend, KS, encouraging students to improve and expand their reading skills. Glenn shared some photos and stories from their visits over the years, demonstrating the difference that Luna’s love makes for many young readers.

An electronic sign for the Central Kansas Library System shows a photo of a Bernese mountain dog therapy dog with a child reading to her and the words "READ to Luna"

On a previous visit, a small girl at the library saw Luna and ran over to her mother and didn’t want to have anything to do with Luna. I gave her one of Luna’s trading cards and asked if it would be all right if someone else read a book to her and Luna. She agreed but kept a guarded distance.

This week we came in and her mother said the girl put the trading card next to her bed and looked at it all the time. When we entered the library, the little girl came over to us and spent some time petting Luna. Before she left, she said next week she would read a book to Luna.

–January 2019

A child sits cross-legged on the floor reading a book to a Bernese mountain dog therapy dog who is lying in the floor in front of the child.

We had a girl in 5th grade and we asked her if she wanted to read to Luna. She said she didn’t like to read aloud because sometimes she made mistakes and didn’t know some words.

We assured her that Luna was here to listen to her and not to judge how she read, and it was important to Luna just to hear the story she had to read. She finally agreed to read to Luna.

After the session her mother came over and said she was so happy because her daughter never reads out loud to anyone.

–February 2019

Several small children pet a Bernese mountain dog therapy dog who is lying on the floor in front of them with a happy expression, while they prepare to read from a picture book.

We engaged with 46 children, and 18 children read to Luna. One little girl read to Luna and said she was afraid of dogs.

After each child reads to Luna, they can give her a treat. After watching all the children reading to Luna and giving her a treat, this little girl was still afraid.

I gave her a treat in an open hand and she dropped it in front of Luna; Luna didn’t try to pick it up, so I gave it back to the girl and told her to hold her hand open and let Luna take the treat.

Slowly she moved her hand over to Luna. Luna gently took it from her hand. Afterwards told me she wasn’t afraid of dogs any longer and couldn’t wait until next week to read to Luna again.

–June 2021

A flyer for a reading program at a library. Text: "Our Pet Partner Mondays 10:30 a.m. Come take turns reading out loud to Luna! Earn a prize for reading to Luna every Monday all summer. If you are the one who gets the most minutes reading to Luna you will win a year subscription to National Geographic Kids Magazine! Each child will have 10 minutes each turn."

The summer reading program is in full swing. A mother had two surprises today with her children.

First, her daughter sat down to read to Luna and finished the book she picked out. I was told by her mother that her daughter never sits long enough to finish a book in one setting. She said Luna captivated her daughter and encouraged her to keep reading. She was very happy with Luna .

Second surprise was with her son, and not only amazed his mother but the library staff as well. The mother told me he was just learning to read, and would be slow but also need help. I told her Luna was very patient. Her son opened his book and started reading, and read the whole book without any help. Everyone was in disbelief.

–June 2022

Three children lie on the floor with a Bernese mountain dog therapy dog. One child reads from a book while the other two pet the therapy dog.

I had a little girl give me a drawing of Luna that her mother said she did at home . She said her daughter loved Luna and she would get books from the library days ahead of time and practice reading them at home . The mother said her daughter was motivated to read because of Luna; everything she did to motivate her daughter didn’t even come close to what Luna has done. She was very pleased with our summer reading to Luna program.

–July 2022

A child sitting on the floor reads from a comic-style book to a Bernese mountain dog therapy dog who is lying with her head on the child's feet.

A photo of a thank-you note; Text: "Glenn & Luna: Thank you for helping the library and the children in our community have a splashing good summer. We loved having you at our kick-off and allowing readers to visit and read with you each week. Thank you form the prize subscription, it was a great incentive. We look forward to the fall! (signed) Mrs. Amy & the Great Bend Public Library Staff"