CHELSEA — The pet has become the teacher at a local public community center.
Penny, a 5-year-old cocker spaniel and King Charles Cavalier mix, works Tuesdays at the Hudson Guild, helping to teach children and keeping visitors relaxed.
Penny the dog helps kids at Hudson Guild practice the art of eye contact pic.twitter.com/2KvYqH8nT4
— Rosa Goldensohn (@RosaGoldensohn) March 31, 2015 Penny, along with her owner Stephanie Wingert, a social worker at the Hudson Guild, is trained to accompany children to help them as they learn to read and count. They talk about and to her to learn lessons, play games with her and pet her to calm down.
"Would you pay more attention to math if you were counting in a classroom or counting with a dog?" Wingert asked, adding that kids count the number of times they pet Penny. The dog also makes a good audience for early readers, she said.
"You might be more willing to make mistakes because the great thing about animals is they suspend judgment," the 28-year-old noted.
Wingert, who trained at the Green Chimneys program upstate, brings Penny to work with her all day on Tuesday.
On March 31, Penny visited a classroom to help children practice maintaining eye contact. After the kids calmed down by making "Penny Paws" — raising their hands in the air — they each tried holding eye contact with her for 10 seconds. One boy who did not want to do the exercise in front of everyone still chose to get up and pet her.
Wingert said therapy dogs teach skills, but also make people happier.
"They simply bring you up when you're down," she said.
