The Herald-Sun/Sara Davis

Student Amanda Bass pets Misty before she begins reading. A reading corner set aside for Misty provides a cozy spot for the students to know there is someone listening.

By Michael Petrocelli : The Herald-Sun mpetrocelli@heraldsun.com Oct 13, 2002 : 8:07 pm ET

DURHAM -- Misty, the certified therapist in Little River Elementary School teacher Molly Zaragoza’s classroom, is a born listener. She sits quietly and approachably, listening to students’ stories and never rebuking them if they misspeak.

All she asks for is the occasional doggie treat to munch on.

Misty is Zaragoza’s West Highland white terrier, known to most as "Misty the Westie." Her job is to make Zaragoza’s fourth- and fifth-grade students, many of whom struggle with their reading, feel comfortable.

Students take turns visiting "Misty’s Reading Corner," where they sit cross-legged on a mat and read from a book to the placid pooch. Meanwhile, Zaragoza attends to the rest of her class, leaving each student 10 or 15 minutes of one-on-one time with Misty.

Children who might be too nervous to read a book aloud to another person tend to open up to Misty. Zaragoza ascribes their comfort with the dog to the fact that unlike a person, Misty has never once tsk-tsked at a student’s pronunciation or hinted that he or she is moving too slowly.

"She’s non-threatening," Zaragoza says. "She’s not going to talk back to you."

Zaragoza cites research showing that children are more at ease reading to a dog than they are when asked to perform before an adult. The sessions with Misty help children build up necessary confidence in their reading ability, she says.

"The more the kids can read orally the better, without someone correcting them every two seconds," Zaragoza says.

Most of the time, Misty does little to distract the children from their reading. She lies on her side, her eyes nearly shut, or on her stomach with her furry chin pressed to the pile of door mats that serves as her office.

Last Friday, Christina Johnston read from a book called "What Big Teeth You Have," a guide to the dental idiosyncrasies of the animal world, and Misty looked to be drifting off to sleep. When Christina reached a page about wolves, however, Misty perked up, suddenly alert as if spurred by some ancestral familiarity.

Then she scratched her ear, yawned and stretched back out on her side.

Misty does occasionally need a break from the constant stream of clients. As another student, Amanda Bass, read a story about robots, Misty became a bit restless, wandering off distractedly. Zaragoza knew what she needed to settle her back down.

"I think she deserves a treat, don’t you? She’s been at it for a while," Zaragoza said.

"She’s ready for it," Amanda said, before dropping a cheese-flavored "Pup Corn" snack into Misty’s waiting mouth.

Refreshed and grateful, Misty rubbed her snout against Amanda’s arm as she continued with her story.

Therapy is actually Misty’s second career.

In her younger days (she’s now 5) she was a show dog, once topping the Westie division in a contest at Southern Pines. She also used run "agility" courses, jumping barriers and scooting through chutes, before she blew out a knee and a hip, requiring surgery on both.

So like many an athlete laid low by injury, Misty had to look for less physically demanding work.

Zaragoza thought Misty’s mellow personality had a soothing effect, and the pair undertook training that would result in Misty’s being a certified therapy dog, a credential the canine wears around her neck, etched on a heart-shaped tag.

During the training, Zaragoza and Misty visited hospitals, letting patients spend time with the dog as a way to brighten their spirits.

"She responded well instantly," Zaragoza said.

Since completing her training, Misty has been a regular in Zaragoza’s classroom, where students come for extra help with their schoolwork during the day. Zaragoza, who wears earrings in the shape of dogs’ heads, shows students a video about therapy dogs on the first day of school and then introduces them to Misty through a book she made about her recent trip to Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.

For the first two weeks of school, Misty comes every day, but for the rest of the year she punches the clock only on Thursdays and Fridays.

The end-of-the week reading sessions become an incentive for the students, who look forward to the days when Zaragoza has tacked a sign to the outside of her door that reads "Misty is in Residence."

The kids are not the only ones who get excited about Misty’s visits, according to Zaragoza. At home, when she pulls out the scarf Misty wears to work, designed like a black composition notebook with dog pictures on it, the terrier is visibly thrilled.

By the time she enters the classroom, however, Misty is all business, knowing that providing a relaxed atmosphere is her No. 1 duty.

"She’s like, ‘This is my job: keeping everything calm and chilled out,’ " Zaragoza says.

-- Anonymous, October 14, 2002