"This Was the Best Reading Day Ever"

This morning Louie and I participated in our local public schools' annual Reading Day. We went to two different elementary schools and visited a class of second graders at each one.

Our first stop was Ms. L's class. Ms. L summed up our visit by saying, "This was the best reading day ever!" I totally agree. Louie and I had so much fun with Ms. L and her students. The kids were extremely sweet, well behaved and very gentle with Louie. I don't think they wanted us to leave. We got an open invitation to visit again and I hope we get the chance.


This video cracks me up. Louie has never had so many people petting him at one time.


After all of the kids got a chance to feed Louie some kibble and watch him do his tricks we got down to the main purpose of our visit. I read a book to the children called "Newf" by Marie Killilea that was perfect for this age group.


Louie and the book were both a big hit!


Louie was getting so relaxed with all of the lovely petting that he started getting sleepy.


"I think this one needs a kiss."


Our second stop was Ms. R's class. We had another great visit there. Louie did a bunch of tricks for the kids then we settled down on the floor to read our book. While I was reading Louie had at least six pairs of hands touching him at all times. The children just couldn't get enough of Louie. I can't blame them...he is also impossible for me to resist.






Being the center of attention is always a good thing in Louie's opinion.


"I think it's time for a nap Mama!"


We also got to briefly visit with several classes of students in the hallway. One class must have been kindergartners because they were tiny. The children looked interested in Louie so I told the teacher they could pet him if it was ok with her. She said most of them would be too scared, but as she gave her permission for them to approach him every single child in the class reached their little hands out to pet Louie. He had about 14 pairs of fearless hands on him simultaneously. It was great to see the smiles on all of those cute faces.

Now Louie is crashed out on the floor trying to recover from three hours of nonstop loving :-)

Louie's Friend (& Katie's too)

Whenever we visit our local nursing home we always make a point to spend some time with Mrs. T. She adores all dogs and always tells Katie or Louie (whoever happens to be visiting on that day) that she loves them. Mrs. T has become a good friend to me too.

During our visit this week Louie greeted Mrs. T, posed for the pictures below and then quickly fell asleep on the floor at the foot of her bed. As Mrs. T and I were chatting for about 45 minutes a few different staff members came into the room. Most of them were scared of Louie which kind of tickled Mrs. T and I since we both know how sweet he is. I finally convinced one staff member to step over Louie and he didn't even raise his head. Most dogs, including Katie, react negatively to people's fear, but not Louie. Mrs. T asked me why Louie doesn't EVER show any acknowledgment of fear and I told her I believe it is because he has lead a charmed life. He has always been treated with love and rarely left by himself. Louie is just an all around well balanced Newf. Katie gets a bit nervous when people act fearful. I think that's because she didn't have an older Newf to raise her and keep her company when we were at work like lucky Louie did when he was little.



That smile from Mrs. T makes our therapy work so gratifying.


(Our thanks to Mrs. T for giving us permission to post these pictures)