Storytime With Maizy

After seeing our picture in the paper on Wednesday, I admit that I was a little nervous about storytime today at the Oak Park Public Library. When we came in and asked the security guard where to go, he said "is that the dog from the pictures" and then I saw pictures of us on 11X17" paper posted all over the children's section of the library. Wow! All went well, however, as no dogs or kids were harmed and everyone had a good time. Maizy and I were sequestered in a back office where we waited while the librarian read books to the kids (a very young crowd) about "good dogs." Maizy fell asleep and let out a mighty "woof woof!" when she was startled awake by the door when the librarian came to get us. I went in and introduced myself and Maizy. I ended up keeping it short because the kids were very small. I talked about how Maizy is a good dog and that pit bulls are good dogs, I talked about how she is a rescue dog, I talked about her training requirements and what she does as a TDI therapy dog, I talked about how she doesn't get paid, I talked about the three things we always have on a therapy dog visit (her tag, her bandana, and her ID card), and most importantly (probably) I talked about the right way to approach and pet a new dog. All of the kids did a really great job with letting Maizy sniff and petting under her jaw and not on top of her head. She probably met about 30 kids and their adults, it was quite a packed house. She was a good dog and hopefully we will be invited back to the library again sometime!