Story by Kim Sykes
Often a volunteer hears a thank you for their work, but rarely do they receive national recognition. Bozzie, a nine-year-old Samoyed, was the only Oklahoma nominee in the American Kennel Club’s Awards for Canine Excellence (ACE) award for the Therapy category.
“His patience and kindness have encouraged the development of self-confidence and better reading skills in all of the program participants,” said Kristine Cummings, a First Grade Teacher at MacArthur Elementary School in Tulsa in a letter nominating Bozzie for the AKC ACE award. “Bozzie is able to convince even the most reluctant readers to read to him, as he sits quietly and listens.”
It is just another day volunteering for Bozzie and his owner Sharon Wilson of Claremore. Sharon and Bozzie have gone to MacArthur Elementary at least twice a month for the last two years to listen to children through the R.E.A.D. ® program. Sharon learned of the program and thought Bozzie would be a natural because of his calm and gentle nature.
“Folks just naturally want to hug him, and he lets them,” she said of the fluffy white dog. “He looks at them with those big brown eyes and lets them pet him while they are reading, or sometimes they will lay on him while they read and he allows that.”
The Reading Education Assistance Dogs, R.E.A.D. ® program is part of the Intermountain Therapy Animals, a Utah nonprofit organization. Started in 1999, it was the first comprehensive literacy program built around children reading to dogs, according to the organization’s website www.therapyanimals.org/read. Today, the organization boasts more than 2,000 teams worldwide. The mission of the R.E.A.D. ® program is to improve the literacy skills of children through the assistance of registered therapy teams as literacy mentors – simply put, the student reads to the dog.
The website states that dogs are perfect for the program since they do not judge or laugh at the children when they read aloud and are less intimidating than peers.
“The staff, students and I are all very fond of Bozzie and his family,” said Cummings. “I know I share their sentiments when I say that his presence has touched the lives of everyone at our school. His service has helped numerous students develop a love of reading that will last their lifetime.”
Sharon also volunteers with three of her other Samoyeds, Calie, Barrett and Sonya, for the R.E.A.D. ® program and other therapy organizations. In addition to listening to children, Bozzie and Sharon are members of Karing K-9s Therapy Dogs in Tulsa and Therapy Dogs Incorporated (WY) and have logged more than 200 hours doing therapy work at hospitals, nursing homes, day cares, rehab units and libraries.
Sharon says Samoyeds are a family dog with an intelligent, gentle and adaptable disposition. Originally bred to help with the herding of reindeer and sled pulling, the thick coat kept the dogs and their owners warm during the cold artic weather where they originated. Sharon spends many hours grooming the double-coated white dogs in preparation for therapy visits. She jokes that they always leave a little bit of themselves behind after a visit in the form of dog fur.
In addition to volunteering for therapy work, Sharon competes with her dogs in conformation, obedience, rally obedience and trains in dog dancing. Bozzie is officially known as International and American Champion SnoWonder’s Bosley CD U-CD HIC CGC TDI RN WS WSX.
“Bozzie has completed his requirements for his AKC Championship as well as his International Championship and although these are wonderful accomplishments, his work in Animal Assisted Therapy and Animal Assisted Activities bring us many more rewards. I cannot count the times that the staff, doctors, activity directors, teachers and family members have come up to me and thanked us for the volunteer work that we do. They have told us countless times that we have made a difference in their lives.”
While the volunteer work seems like a lot, Sharon, a retired mathematician and computer science instructor for University of Tulsa, wishes she could do more.
“When the children see Bozzie they absolutely think he is the most beautiful dog they have ever seen in their lives,” Sharon said of Bozzie. “He is like a magnet, he draws everyone to him. He also is representative of the breed in his gentleness. So he makes a wonderful companion to read to. He tolerates the children petting him and hugging him.”
Oklahoma had two other AKC ACE nominees, both in the Exemplary Companion Dog category; Cookie, a Chihuahua owned by Yolanda Hankins of Tulsa and Zorro, a pug, owned by Linda Price of Stillwater, OK.
The winners of the AKC ACE Award in the five categories including Law Enforcement, Search and Rescue, Therapy, Service and Exemplary Companion Dog were announced in mid-September. While none of the Oklahoma nominees received the ACE award or Honorable Mentions for the ACE program, they are still special companions. A full list of nominees and winners can be found at the AKC website www.akc.org.
