POULSBO — Kind eyes, soft fur coats, floppy ears and doggy breath have helped create an environment that is breaking down barriers for students struggling with reading at Poulsbo Elementary School.

And the improvements are being unleashed weekly.

Friday afternoons, the school’s English Language Learning classroom welcomes two guests specializing in companionship for a program called Reading with Rover. The idea is simple — children reading to someone or rather something that doesn’t judge and offers unconditional acceptance: dogs. The results speak for themselves.

Last year, Poulsbo Elementary second-grader Odalis Duran was so inhibited that her shyness held her back a year in school. She is one of a few students learning English as a second language.

This year, school volunteer Terri Cogswell helped initiate a branch of the Reading with Rover program at the Poulsbo school, and the kind ears of man’s best friend are helping Duran and others like her to open up, speak up and read through book after book, cover to cover.

With the assistance of volunteer reading dogs Jake and Abby, Duran’s fear is diminishing.

“It’s a setting for them to speak and not feel uncomfortable about their English,” North Kitsap School District ELL coordinator Suzy Rau said of the program. “It’s a warm and fuzzy time. It’s a special thing to look forward to on Friday.”

After four months of reading with to Jake and Abby, Duran’s timidity is no longer paramount. In fact, Rau and Cogswell said they have seen a near complete turnaround in the young student since the program started in November.

“The first day, (Duran) was really, really shy. After we read we asked her if she wanted to take Jake around (to other classrooms) and she was like a totally different kid,” Cogswell said, noting an air of confidence in Duran as she freely introduced Jake to her peers. “It was amazing and that was after one day.”

The program is reaching out to a growing group of students, currently comprised of eight kids ranging in age from second to fifth grade.

Students in the group file into the Poulsbo Elementary School’s ELL classroom Friday afternoons where they are met by wet noses and a playful nuzzle as they settle down to share a book with their canine companions.

“They have certain words that they know, Jake especially,” Cogswell said of the dogs. “So when the kids are reading, if they hear words they know like blankie or cookie, the dogs look at (the kids) and tilt their heads and it looks like they are really listening.”

Those open ears that listen without passing judgment have allowed the students to blossom, Rau and Cogswell agree. While the kids read aloud to the canines, Rau and Cogswell assist with sounding out words and defining those which students may not yet comprehend.

“In order for them to learn, they have to feel comfortable and safe in their world and I think that is one of the things that this does,” Rau said.

Though they haven’t collected any data evidence of improvement, the strides made in the classroom have been extremely encouraging, Rau noted.

“We know something’s happening, we know there is some kind of magic going on,” she said.

But in order continue the magic and keep the improvements recurring, the group will soon need a new dog to lend an ear. Cogswell is returning to school in April, and the accompanying time constraints will not allow Jake, Abby and herself to continue with the program after the end of this school year.

“If anyone has a dog that is very good with children, has a good temperament, likes to cuddle up with a child and a good book, we need you,” Cogswell said.

Cogswell can be reached at labbies4u@msn.com. Rau can be contacted at Poulsbo Elementary (360) 598-1077 or rau@nksd.wednet.edu.”