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GOLDSTAR IN THE NEWS
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THE TAOS NEWS, August 3-9, 2006
Kids Get 'Gold Stars' for Reading
By Jessica Marsh
The Taos News
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 Gerald Garner Jr.
Trainer Sandra Miller, along with her dog Shiloh, listen intently as Mariana Jimenez Gonzales, 6, reads her book during the Reading With the Gold Star Dogs program. |
Dogs have always been known to lend a helping paw to their human companions; fetching the newspaper or curling up at the end of the bed to warm up cold toes. Now, these four-legged friends are adding an even greater service to their repertoire as they help children improve their reading skills.
Sandra Miller, president and founder of Gold Star Animals Helping People, Inc., said she became interested in a pro-gram called Reading Education Assistance Dogs (R.E.A.D.) that she found out about through the Delta Society. The main goal of the Delta Society is to certify both trainers and dogs in order to "expand the therapeutic and service role of animals in human health, service and education." The purpose of the R.E.A.D. program is to "improve the literacy skills of children through the assistance of registered Pet Partner therapy teams as literacy mentors." This program has "been proven to encourage learning ... and improve (children's) reading skills and confidence," Miller said. After reviewing all of the information, Miller put together four teams - one handler and one dog per team - which were then registered and evaluated with the Delta Society. All four teams were approved to work with children, Miller said, which allowed her to create the Reading With the Gold Star Dogs program.
The program is held every Saturday at the Taos Children's Library from 11 a.m. to noon, and it focuses on children in grade levels kindergarten through third grade. Parents must sign a parental consent form for their children, and can sign their children up for the program at the Taos Children's Library.
Article continued ... click here to read the rest of this article. |
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THE TAOS NEWS, March 23, 2006
Dog (Training) Days
Photographs by Megan Bowers, The Taos News
 Brigga runs down the scent while Iva Garrettova (left) and Brigga's owner Dana Renor follow close behind. When the dog finds their victim return to their handlers and jump up on their legs to let them them know to follow them to the victim.
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Saturday is training day for dogs and handlers with Goldstar K-9 and Mounted Search and Rescue. Five dogs participated in training March 18 near Taos Country Club.
The team is a component of the Taos-based nonprofit Goldstar Animals Helping People.
Goldstar President Sandra Miller said the search and rescue team has two "mission-ready" certified search dogs: Brenda, a golden retriever handled by Iva Garrettova, Goldstar's training officer, and Shiloh, also a golden retriever handled by Miller.
Three other dogs are working towards certification: Miller's other golden retreiver, Mikey; and Brigga and Jack, both border collies handled by Dana Renor, a professional animal trainer on the Goldstar team.
Miller said Brigga is nearly ready to undergo certification testing.
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Dana Renor lets her dog, Brigga, get the
scent of the victim.
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Of the five dogs, Jack is the only one trained as a tracking-trailing dog, which means he keeps his nose to the ground to follow scent and locate a victim. The four other dogs are air-scent dogs who keep their nose in the air to discover the ends of a "scent cone" and eventually locate the victim in the center of the scent cone.
"Certain dogs have a natural trait in terms of whether they work with their nose up or down. Once they are really proficient in one method, they can be trained to do the other," Miller said.
She said the dogs will train for 18 to 24 months to become mission-ready.
For more about Goldstar Animals Helping People, see next week's The Taos News.
-Kevin Shank
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Iva Garrettover (left) and Bunny Eggborn
head out to "hide" so the search dogs can
practice their air-scent search.
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The team stands ready and waiting for its
next search. In the back row are Mikey, Shiloh
and Brenda. Front row, Brigga and Jack.
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