Sting the Greyhound enjoys helping children develop their reading skills by having reading sessions in the local library. However, no one attended one of his sessions, so his owner shared pictures of the lonely dog on social media to promote attendance. The image of the lonely dog touched the hearts of thousands of people around the nation, who began scrambling to sign up to help cheer up the dog.
Sting’s owner, John Muellner, was quick to reassure the reporters that Sting is not a depressed dog – his face just naturally appears that way. The 10-year-old Greyhound is a retired racer who now serves as a therapy dog in White Bear Lake, Minnesota. Sting allows children to read to him once a week as part of the Paws to Read program at the local library. The program is an initiative that enables children to practice their reading abilities by reading to tolerant dogs.
Typically, Sting spends one hour at the library so that at least three children can each read to him for twenty minutes. But nobody attended his first reading session.
Muellner reported that nobody signed up to read to Sting at the White Bear Lake library that evening. He urged anybody who knew four- to eight-year-olds who are interested in reading to a dog to contact the library by phone or their website.
To Muellner’s great amazement, the phones began to ring continuously. People were requesting to be able to read to Sting by holding the phone to his ear. Even the entire crew at a Petco shop in California called to express their adoration for the lovely dog. The outpouring of love and support was astounding.
To the librarian’s pleasure, Sting and the other resident reading canines of Paws to Read are now scheduled for several months.
Source: John Muellner