Barrio Dogs Visits House of Tiny Treasures

On March 17, 2011,  Barrio Dogs made a special St. Patrick’s Day visit to House of Tiny Treasures, a pre-kindergarten educational and day care center for homeless children.  On this occasion, Barrio Dogs’ Education and Therapy Coordinator Jennifer Washam was not only accompanied by her R*E*A*D, Chloe, but also by a new assistant, Laila Salameh, who helped with Serenity, a small rescue pup who will now be part of the therapy program.  Typically upon arrival, the Barrio Dogs group is met with cries of joy since everyone loves the canine visits.  However, on this visit, things were different and oddly quiet. We soon discovered that there were only four older kids in the Center's playground instead of the usual 12-14. This provided a unique opportunity for the older kids to have more one-on-one time with both dogs and gave the younger kids a chance to meet the dogs for the first time.  Barrio Dogs continues to be amazed at how the children seem to benefit from these therapeutic visits, especially since their own living circumstances are not very stable.  Barrio Dogs looks forward to increasing their visits to House of Tiny Treasures in the coming months.