Community Services

"Read to the Dog" at Hector P. Garcia Elementary School

Dr. Boedeker and her Australian Shepherd, Colt, have implemented a "Read to the Dog" program at the Hector P. Garcia Elementary School in Temple. Dr. B and Colt spend an hour each week with individual second graders as they read to Colt. As we all know, dogs are non-judgmental and this helps the child improve and gain confidence in their reading. Colt, through Dr. B, then asks the children questions about what they just read. This helps the children work on their reading comprehension and communication skills.

For the past several years, Dr. Boedeker and Colt have participated in career day at Hector P. Garcia Elementary School. This year, Dr. B and Colt will expand on this program to present American Kennel Club material on safety around dogs and dog ownership and responsibility. Children are taught stranger safety, fire safety and bicycle safety, just to name a few. Our children need to be educated on how to be safe around dogs. Dr. B also feels that it is very important to teach responsible dog ownership, which includes providing for your dog and also making that dog as safe around people as possible.