IN THE CLASSROOM:Dog is all ears as kids bone up on reading

Reading’s gone to the dogs at the Boys & Girls Clubs TLC Branch in Bluebird Park.

Daily reading is a major part of the Clubs’ kindergarten programs, and at the TLC Branch a primary focus is on reading out loud.

Enter Lagunan Kate Buckley and Murphy, her Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.

The duo conducts a weekly Reading Education Assistance Dogs program on Wednesdays at the branch, where kids read to Murphy, a registered therapy animal.

“It’s good for the kids because it gets them excited, and they have someone to read to,” Buckley said.

Murphy, who’s only a year and a half old, first ventured down the road of becoming a therapy animal after Buckley noticed his sweet, patient demeanor.

“I was so amazed by his temperament that I wanted to do something more with him,” Buckley said. “He has a human quality about him.”

She said that such qualities were unusual in a dog who had already had multiple owners at such an age — Murphy had originally been purchased at a pet store at Fashion Island, and then quickly unloaded at the Animal Crackers pet store in Laguna Beach, where Buckley happened upon him.

She looked around and realized that there were very few opportunities for local kids to bond with therapy animals, so Murphy began a series of tests to become registered, beginning with his Canine Good Citizen Test, the rules for which were established by the American Kennel Club.

He had to pass 10 components to the test, including accepting a friendly stranger, reactions to distractions and walking through a crowd.

Buckley and Murphy then took skills and aptitude tests through the Delta Society, which works to build human-animal bonds through service and therapy animals, before registering to become Pet Partners.

Delta offers animal-assisted activities and therapies to the general population as well as the ill and disabled, to improve healing or independence.

Its Pet Partners Program, which was established in 1990, links up volunteers and their pets with hospitals, rehabilitation centers and schools.

There are more than 8,800 Pet Partners teams in all 50 states and four other countries that help more than 900,000 people each year, according to the Delta Society.

At the TLC Branch on Wednesday, Buckley and Murphy worked with several different children. Typically, the pair stations themselves on a comfortable couch where kids park themselves to read aloud, one arm wrapped around Murphy.

But at this session, Buckley opted to pair crafts with the reading: as each child chose a book to work with, she drew their favorite picture from the book, which the child colored in as they went through the book.

Buckley asked questions of the children as they worked, teaching politeness and conversation skills.

As new children entered, Buckley taught them how to let the dog sniff their hands; her youngest charge is only 4 ½.

First-timer Brandon Lam, 6, was nervous at first but quickly became talkative when the topic turned to his pets.

He was delighted at the dietary habits of animals in a Peter Rabbit book.

“That’s the nice thing about stories,” Buckley told him. “They teach us lots of things we might not know otherwise.”

When the children’s attention waned, Buckley skillfully drew them back in with questions about the book or their coloring.

Each child’s picture was then presented to Murphy, who looked intently at it before being petted.

“The traditional reading program is for school-age children,” Buckley said, but added that local schools and libraries didn’t indicate a need for such a program, so she contacted the Boys & Girls Clubs.

Buckley’s drawings of Beatrix Potter characters and hats were spot-on: In addition to being a published poet, she is a painter.

She also performs her poetry aloud, which shows in her diction when reading to her young charges.

Buckley, originally from Kentucky, shuttles between Laguna Beach and Palm Springs, where she is the executive vice president for a media company that capitalizes on prime domain names; its hundreds of holdings include lagunabeach.com and daycare.com, among many others.

She lives in Laguna with her husband and, of course, several pets.

The Boys & Girls Clubs has approached Buckley about working with older children in their Main Branch, but she said she plans to stick with one hour a week for now — her first book is due to come out in May.