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(Editor’s Note: If you have a pet you’d love to see featured in Old Mission Gazette, contact our pets columnist Paula Kelley, [email protected], or me, [email protected], and I will pass your info along to Paula. Read on for her notes about reading therapy dogs Lani and Rosie. -jb)
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Many of you may already know that Peninsula Community Library (PCL) has a wide range of diverse programming for all audiences, but the library was also the forerunner in the Traverse City area for using therapy dogs to increase children’s reading skills and make the library a welcoming place.
PCL Director Vicki Shurly was instrumental in being open-minded enough to explore the idea of therapy dogs in the library years ago. Since then, PCL has had a long history of supporting the positive aspects of animals interacting with patrons.
The library currently has on staff the dynamic duo of Lani and Rosie, Bernese Mountain dogs owned by Old Mission Peninsula resident Candy Gardner.
“Vicki welcomed us to PCL in 2014, and I have been there ever since — initially with my three former dogs, Ralphie, Zeb and Coco, and now with Lani and Rosie,” says Candy.
However, Lani and Rosie are not content to rest on the laurels of former dogs. Students at Old Mission Peninsula School, Eastern Elementary School, and TC Christian School also get to interact with them. The dogs also visit NMC during mid-term and final exams, and they’re regulars at the oncology and pediatric wings at Munson Hospital. They are also available as needed for Michael’s Place, a grief support center in Traverse City.
Lani and Rosie work separately, and they eagerly watch Candy every day to see if they can figure out which one of them will get to go to work. Each dog has a bandana to wear on site and a therapy dog traveling bag that goes with them in the car. The dogs work four times per week and usually go to Munson every other week.
As the owner of a former therapy dog myself, I am in awe of the time that Candy has put into not only training her dogs to get them certified, but the dedication she and her animals have for the well-being of the people in this area. I was interested to see what this hardworking family do to relax after a tough day on the job. I met Candy at her house where Lani greeted me at the fence (and mooched some dog bones from my pocket), and we all spent some time outside in the snow.
Winter is their favorite time of year, and both dogs search for the best snow piles in the yard for their perfect resting place. When they want to come inside, Lani and Rosie have taken over the three-season room with mattress-sized dog beds for napping. Along with most dogs I know, Lani and Rosie are “normal” enough to bark at the UPS truck. In fact, Rosie howls like a back woods hound when she hears the truck turn in the drive, as I witnessed firsthand!
Their absolute favorite thing in the world, though, is being a therapy dog. “Who wouldn’t love to be the one who brings so much joy to so many wherever they go, and in the meantime, receive all kinds of loving attention?” says Candy.
The public is invited to come see the dogs at work at PCL. They are there every Tuesday from 3:30 to 5 p.m., with reading therapy on a first come, first serve basis.
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SUPPORT YOUR INDEPENDENT LOCAL NEWSPAPER: I started Old Mission Gazette in 2015 because I felt a calling to provide the Old Mission Peninsula community with local news. After decades of writing for newspapers and magazines like the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Family Circle and Ladies’ Home Journal, I really just wanted to write about my own community where I grew up on a cherry farm and raised my own family. So I started my own newspaper.
Because Old Mission Gazette is a “Reader Supported Newspaper” — meaning it exists because of your financial support — I hope you’ll consider tossing a few bucks our way if I mention your event, your business, your organization or your news item, or if you simply love reading about what’s happening on the OMP. In a time when local news is becoming a thing of the past, supporting an independent community newspaper is more important now than ever. Thank you so much for your support! -Jane Boursaw, Editor/Publisher, Old Mission Gazette
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