Wrinkles and the Therapy Puppies by Headline Books / Zoom Into Books

Wrinkles is a therapy dog and lonely at the moment because she’s not working. She decides to go to the puppy store and ‘orders’ some puppies to train to also be therapy dogs. Some of the puppy parts get mixed up and one of the pups has green ears! Although different from the rest of the pups, the puppy with the green ears attracts a special friend. This tale of fitting in and helping others will show children that being different is not so bad after all. First-time author, Dona Engh Yates, works with therapy dogs and pens a charming children’s tale about helping others. Included are facts about therapy dogs and the wonderful work they do to help Veterans, the elderly, handicapped people and children with special needs. Excellent book to start a discussion and research on these very special canine companions to those in need.

About the Author

Dona Engh Yates taught art at Saint Mary’s Catholic school in Annapolis Maryland for several years. After retiring to Wilmington N.C., she taught an adult calligraphy class at the University of North Carolina’s Wilmington Pathway Program. Her love of art and children led her to volunteer to teach art therapy at a juvenile detention center in N.C. for ten years. Dona lives in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and has 3 children and 5 grandchildren.

story and illustrations by

Dona Engh Yates

story and illustrations by

Dona Engh Yates

Wrinkles and the Therapy Puppies A Story of Helping Others Story and illustrations by Dona Engh Yates copyright ©2016 Dona Engh Yates All rights reserved. This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents, except where noted otherwise, are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any other resemblance to actual people, places or events is entirely coincidental. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any other form or for any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage system, without written permission from Headline Books. The Headline Kids Educational Series is a continuing series of 6 x 9 paperback books for the classroom, home school environment, parents and caregivers. The authors of these books are teachers, parents, and exceptional individuals who love children. The subject matter will be different in every book but all give inspiration to imagination and creativity. There is a learning element in every book and/or easy activity to do at home. Headline Kids celebrates children and these books will increase early learning and reading skills. To order additional copies of this book, or for book publishing information, or to contact the author: Headline Kids P. O. Box 52 Terra Alta, WV 26764 Tel: 800-570-5951 Email: mybook@headlinebooks.com www.headlinebooks.com Published by Headline Books Headline Kids is an imprint of Headline Books ISBN-13: 9781882658565

PR I N T E D I N T H E U N I T E D STAT E S OF A M E R IC A

Dedicated to all the therapy animals and their trainers. I would like to thank Fred Engh, Jerry Engh, Kim Anderson, and Bink Cline for their advice and support.

Wrinkles had a special job helping people in need. She is called a therapy dog. Wrinkles has a nice home and a round pool to splash in on warm days. She also had lots of toys to play with anytime she wanted. But, poor Wrinkles was lonely because she hadn’t worked for a while...until...

She saw a sign in town at Miss Bella’s store. “Miss Bella’s Puppy Store.” Maybe I can order some puppies to keep me company, thought Wrinkles. She leaped with joy! “I can train them to be therapy dogs who help people with special needs!” Wrinkles felt more and more excited. “I will take care of them until they are ready to be adopted by nice people.”

Wrinkles hurried over to Miss Bella’s Puppy Store and ordered three girls and three boys. Miss Bella said she would put all the puppy parts together and they would be ready the next morning. “I will have the puppies in a basket, outside the door, waiting for you to take them home,” she said. 8

There was another pet store where Wrinkles could go and order necessary supplies for her new puppies. She ordered toys, puppy mats, puppy books, some puppy bones and food. Then she went back to her house and had a good night’s sleep because she knew she would have a very busy day tomorrow.

Wrinkles woke up very early and rushed to Miss Bella’s Puppy Store. She ran up to see a basket of six puppies waiting for her.

Wrinkles pushed her new family all the way home while thinking to herself, what a fortunate dog I am.

After a while the puppies were getting bigger. The other dogs in the neighborhood heard all the playful barking and came to see what all the excitement was about. A dog named Miss Prissy immediately pointed to one of the dogs and said, “My, my, look, everyone! That dog’s ears are all wrong!”

Then all the dogs looked and saw that, yes, the dog’s ears were wrong. Wrinkles ignored these comments and continued the puppies’ lessons and all the dogs played together happily.

Wrinkles enjoyed training her dogs to be good therapy dogs. The dog with the wrong ears was her best student. Every day she read books about how to be good therapy dogs. Some of the books she read to them were: Don’t Chase Cars Don’t Tease Cats Don’t Eat Out of Garbage Cans Always Obey Your Master

The day arrived when the people came to choose their therapy dogs. The children in the first family that arrived ran to the dog with the wrong ears and said, “Oh, Mommy! Oh, Daddy! This dog is AWESOME!” 20

Wrinkles took a look at the children and the dog with the wrong ears. She knew they were a perfect match. As the family walked home, Wrinkles proudly watched the dog with the wrong ears begin a new journey as a therapy dog. 21

THERAPY DOGS

Therapy dogs are best known for bringing affection, comfort and happiness to people in confined living situations, whether they are in a hospital for a short stay or living in an assisted living home. Therapy dogs help in many different ways including:

HEALING EFFECTS

Spending time with animals produces marked improvements in humans, affecting the physical, mental, emotional and social aspects of their well-being.

WHERE AND HOW THEY SERVE

Hospitals and retirement homes come to mind when most people think of therapy animals. In fact, therapy animals serve in a tremendous variety of venues and circumstances, and the number of ways in which they help people is equally great and varied.

MENTAL AND PHYSICAL THERAPY

While there are many different ways in which therapy animal work is conducted, a significant distinction is made for those activities in which a health professional is directly involved. The term animal-assisted activities (AAA) is used to describe activities which typically involve only the handler, their animal, and the client. Examples include visits to patients in hospitals and residents in retirement homes. Animal-assisted therapy (AAT), on the other hand, is conducted by a health professional who uses the animal in providing their service to the client. Thus a typical session would include the health professional, the client, a therapy animal and its handler. 22

SCHOOLS, COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES

Therapy animals serve as non-judgmental companions in the process of learning and development. They are used for everything from helping with lessons to teaching social skills and responsibility. They help students with emotional problems that interfere with school, including grief and personal crisis.

READ-TO-DOG PROGRAMS

In read-to-dog programs in schools and libraries, children not only find it fun reading to a dog, but they can do so without fear of judgment. The calmness of the dog lessens the anxiety of the child, and the child knows that they will not be criticized or laughed at for their mistakes. To learn more about therapy dogs visit

www.therapydoginfo.net

Questions for the Reader: 1. Even though the story is make-believe, have you ever noticed that someone is different than you? 2. Why do you think that the other dogs did not notice, at first, the dog with the wrong ears? 3. Do you think it was nice of Miss Prissy to point out the dog’s ears? 4. Why do you think the dog with the wrong ears was so happy to go with the family? 5. What was the moral of this make-believe story?

About the Author

story and illustrations by

Dona Engh Yates