Meet Sting, a 10-year-old retired racing greyhound who now works as a certified emotional therapy dog. Part of his duties are to have children practice their reading aloud to him, as part of the Paws To Read program at a local library in White Bear Lake, Minnesota.
At his most recent gig however, nobody showed up. No bookings. That prompted his handler, John Muellner, to send out a Facebook post asking if any kiddies were interested in coming by to keep a rather forlorn-looking Sting company for the evening.
The post has since been shared over 100,000 times, and Sting is now a star of the internet! The library has been inundated with requests for readings with Sting, with the Paws To Read program receiving a huge boost in interest. Sting is now sold-out for months in advance.
What was the reason behind the outpouring of sympathy for Sting? It turns out he wasn’t bothered at all by his lack of popularity, the pictures John uploaded of him looking sad and heartbroken are just Sting being Sting. “It's his signature look," John told Today. "It's just his look.”
Either way, Sting is gonna be getting plenty of attention in the weeks to come, and his fellow reading dogs in the program are also in high demand. With more kids practising their reading skills and getting the benefits of canine companionship, Sting’s story has a very happy ending indeed.
Retired greyhound racer Sting works as a therapy dog on the 'Paws to Read' program
Where kids from 4 to 8 years old come to read to the dogs, in order to practise their literacy in a safe and fun environment
But nobody registered to read for Sting, so John Muellner took it to Facebook
With nearly 100,000 shares the response was staggering
Kids came flocking to read to Sting, he is now booked out for months!
Sting and his fellow reading dogs in the program have received such a boost in popularity, they will never be lonely again
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