Kids, Dogs, and Books (CONTINUED FROM PA GE 108)
neck, and laid her head next to Luna's. Neither one of them moved for twenty min- utes. One of the librarians told me she'd never seen that little girl so able to concentrate. Although renowned scientists like E. O.
Wilson and Richard Dawkins have recently been battling over the origin of altruism in humans, we Therapy Dog volunteers think we have an inside track: working with dogs and people of any age feeds our souls and brings us a deep happiness we cannot describe. An explanation can be found in a May 28, 2007 Washington Post article. Neuroscientists Moll and Jordan Graffman at the National Institute of Health have scanned brains of volunteers. The results showed that when the volunteers put the interests of others before their own, their generosity "activated a primitive part of the brain that usually lights up in response to food or sex. Altruism, the experiment sug- gested, was not a superior moral faculty… but…was basic to the brain, hard wired and pleasurable."
WELLESLEY FREE LIBRARY'S Read to a Dog program is available from 10:30 am to noon one Saturday a month. Children in Kindergarten through fourth grade may sign up for a 15-minute session to read to a dog. Bring your own book or borrow one from the library. LIBRARY VOLUNTEERS are certified by TDI, www.tdi-dogs.org, DogB.O.N.E.S, wwwdogbonesther- apydogs@comcast.net, or Caring Canines, www.car- ingcanines.org. THERAPY DOG ORGANIZATIONS are cropping up everywhere, including Pets and People, Inc. in Weston.
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WellesleyWeston Magazine |
fall 2012