Story of a Certified Therapy Dog

Image by @John Muellner / Facebook

Sting is a 10-year-old retired greyhound racer and now lives as a pet and certified therapy dog. As part of a program called Paws to Read, Sting visits a local library in White Bear Lake, Minnesota, to have children practice their reading  aloud to him.

“It’s meant to be a fun environment,” Ann Wahlstrom, children’s librarian at the Ramsey County Library told Today. “To give kids a fun, nonthreatening place where they can practice their reading skills to a dog.”

Usually, Sting’s visits last for an hour in which three kids get 20 minutes each with him. But recently, nobody showed up. So his handler, John Muellner, decided to post a message on Facebook asking if there are any kids interested to come by to keep Sting company for the night. He included some photos of the dog looking sad and lonely.

Since then, the post has been shared over 100K times and Sting is now an internet sensation. He’s fully booked through April and the library has been flooded with requests for readings with Sting.

John explained that the pictures he uploaded of Sting looking depressed and forlorn are just his natural look.

“It’s his signature look,” he told Today. “It’s just his look.”

Nevertheless, Sting is now getting a lot of attention because of the post and his fellow dogs in the program are also in high demand.

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