Guinea pig brings joy to JBLM’s junior readers

JOINT BASE LEWIS-McCHORD, Wash. – Are guinea pigs good listeners?

Fans of Puff, the registered therapy guinea pig who reads with kids at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, think so.

“Uh-huh. He really likes the pages. He even nibbled one,” said Mila Welch, 6, in the children’s section of JBLM’s McChord Library, Feb. 7.

Mila and her mom, Meredith Welch, have visited Puff at the library three or four times now for his Puff’s Cozy Corner event, held the first Friday of every month. They showed off one of Mila’s books, complete with a couple of tiny teeth marks embedded in its pages, from their first visit.

“It was so funny. She was showing him the picture, and he just nibbled it,” Meredith said, laughing.

The orangey-brown and white, 1.5-year-old guinea pig takes turns listening to readers while his owner, Ashley Skelton, of Olympia, follows along and monitors him on his tiny harness and leash. Puff was semi-attentive this month, sometimes peering at the children’s books aimed in his direction.

“He actually will look at the book with you, so it’s super cute,” said Brenda Camren, McChord Library’s branch manager.

“A lot of times the kids just want to pet him, too. It’s just a really relaxing program and it also is a good stress (reliever), of course,” she said. She added that reading to Puff is “good for children that are struggling with reading,” as an animal won’t judge their mispronunciations or fear of reading, and the process helps kids build confidence.

Reading to Puff is also beneficial because it helps “introduce them to being gentle with an animal,” Camren said, adding that children who move a lot sometimes can’t have their own pets.

“Research suggests that interacting with dogs, cats, horses and even fish can improve mental and physical health in children,” according to JBLM’s Family Morale, Welfare and Recreation website listing for Puff’s Cozy Corner.

Adaline Marksberry, 4, was excited to read to Puff for the first time. She and her mom, Katlynn Marksberry, decided to read “The Berenstain Bears’ Funny Valentine” to Puff, “because it’s gonna be Valentine’s Day,” Adaline said.

“We love it here,” Katlynn said of the library. “She loves playing with the toys, and it’s awesome that they have this little special option to read to the guinea pig. … She was really excited about how soft it was going to be.”

Mila also likes reading to Puff because “he’s just really soft,” she said.

And Puff, a teddy breed of guinea pig, is actually a show guinea pig who has competed in Washington and Oregon, Skelton said.

Skelton used to bring a dog named Bogan to the library, before he retired. She found Puff online in Idaho and decided to work with him because “he just has the personality to be a therapy animal,” she said.

“He’s really outgoing. He loves people. He likes going places and doing things. He doesn’t mind obviously noises in the crowd and stuff like that, either,” she said with a chuckle, as toys crashed in the background.

Training Puff included exposing him to different environments, getting him used to the harness while volunteering, going to the veterinarian to ensure he was healthy enough for the job, and having him evaluated in different situations, Skelton said. She also took an online course to become Puff’s handler.

“He prefers to volunteer” over being shown, she said, adding that Puff also visits nursing homes in University Place and Tacoma.

“His mission’s pretty simple. He just wants to spread piggie love,” Skelton said at the library. “And I’m pretty sure he fulfills that every time we come here.”

To register to read to Puff the first Friday of each month, call the McChord Library at 253-982-3454.

To learn more about the McChord Library, visit: https://jblm.armymwr.com/programs/mcchord-library