Furry Friend Encourages Reading at the Madeira Library

By Mary Casey-Sturk

One cannot help but smile when you see the children reading to the big dog with an even bigger heart. Eoin, a Rough Collie, along with his owner Ken Wegenhart visit the Madeira branch of the Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library on Thursday mornings year-round to allow children to practice their reading skills with Eoin.

Eoin, always ready to listen (you might say he’s ‘all ears’), provides a calming opportunity for kids to practice their skills. Reading aloud can be difficult for many, but his furry and non-judgmental outlook puts the kids at ease. If the children are too young to read, one of the librarians may read stories to them and Eoin or sometimes a parent or nanny does the reading.

The program, called Read with Eoin the Dog!, encourages children of all ages to read a story to Eoin, who is a certified therapy dog.

During my visit, I watched three little girls gather to read to Eoin, tentative at first, other  children joined in and soon dozens of children were interacting with him and several books were read. A gentle soul, Eoin was very patient and enjoyed gentle strokes.

Isabella Randolph, Library Customer Specialist shared her thoughts on the program,  “Read With Eoin is quickly becoming a favorite program for the kids who come to the Madeira Library. I love seeing the kids light up when they see Eoin and it is really cute to hear that most people coming to the program already know Eoin’s name.” Randoph adds, “It has been rewarding for the staff here to see how this program has grown as more people realize that we have an actual dog here at the library for kids to read to. Hearing kids read out loud to Eoin is my favorite part. A lot of the time I will see them go from nervous or shy to confidently reading out loud (usually in front of a group!) to Eoin. I think he brings a lot of calm to the environment, and kids feel less pressure reading to him versus another human!”

Indian Hill Living Magazine spoke with Madeira resident Wegenhart about this reading program.

Ken shared  Eoin’s story, “I had Eoin in obedience training for a long time, probably over a year, and he was doing really well, but people were trying to convince me to go into obedience competitions and that just does not sound fun to me.” Continuing, “one day, while doing volunteer work at the Presbyterian Church, I was walking down the hall and the preschool is in our church, and there’s one little boy that’s been in the preschool and he’s disabled and he was coming down the hall the other direction using a walker. The little boy comes up and sits down on the floor and starts talking to us, I asked him if he would like to pet Eoin. I asked Eoin if he’s like to meet someone and he gets up and walks over to the kid and sticks his nose in the boy’s face. The boy is grabbing him around the neck and giggling, and Eoin was so calm and gentle.”  Sensing Eoin’s empathy, it was like he knew how to approach the child. “I just decided I only need to get kicked in the head so many times and I finally get the message. We found Canines for Christ and signed up went to the first training class. The trainer and one of the board members agreed that he was ready to take a test immediately, so they tested him and he passed! He’s been doing therapy work ever since so it’s a lot of fun.”

“We have been doing therapy work for about two years and have been going to the library for a year.” Adding, “I am a neighbor of the head librarian. I was talking with her and mentioned that Eoin did therapy work. She told me that they would love to have dog visits and had the children’s librarian contact me. The program started out being called Tales to Tails, but Eoin became famous, so they changed the name.”

Besides visits to the library, Eoin is a regular visitor at the Linder Center of Hope and New Path School, Central campus. We occasionally visit other schools. We have visited Springer School, Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy High School and Madeira walk to school day. 

On working with children, Ken responded, “My passion has always been young people. Having an opportunity to share God’s love with anyone, especially those who are learning to cope with life’s challenges, is where I believe God has called me to be. Watching Eoin work amazes me. He has a gift that I don’t understand, and I feel blessed to be able to do my part, which is to hold the dumb end of the leash.”

For more information about this and all library programs, visit chpl.org.

Q & A with Eoin (via his human translator)

IHL: What are your favorite types of stories? Eoin: My favorite stories are anything that the kids want to read to me, although cat stories are weird and don’t make much sense.

IHL: Do you get extra treats on the days you come to the library? Eoin: My treats are in the form of pets and hugs from the kids. Ken doesn’t believe in training to treats, so he doesn’t give extra treats just because we are good. I say we, because I have two dog sisters. Etta and Branna. Etta is a collie mix and is the boss, just because she’s old. Branna is a rough collie, like me, but not nearly as beautiful.

IHL: What is your opinion of squirrels? Eoin: By squirrels, do you mean tree chickens? They’re fun to chase and harass. Branna caught one once, but Ken didn’t let her keep it.

IHL: When you’re not working, what do you do to relax? Eoin: To relax, I like a good game of tag or a wrestling match with my sister Branna. We try to get Etta to join in too. Sometimes she will play for a few minutes. I also really like long naps and Dogsters® treats from Graeter’s. I also like helping to train Branna. She is learning a lot and hopes to be a therapy dog also. Then we can do some of the visits together, or I can have a day off on really busy weeks. I think I’ll always want to visit the library though. Afterall the program is called “Read with Eoin the Dog”.