The Hellertown Area Library’s resident therapy dog, Toby, doesn’t ever sweat the small things in life.
Perhaps every community could benefit from having a therapy dog who brings happiness to children, adults and families. If you doubt that, you might want to visit the Hellertown Area Library on a day when Toby, a Greater Swiss Mountain dog, is there producing smiles.
Janie Hecker, a library volunteer and Toby’s owner, got him back in 2012 as a nine-week-old puppy.
Hecker said she knew Toby would eventually become a great therapy dog, because he is very approachable.
“He has a really good disposition with people,” she said. “He loves people. He gets excited sometimes, but for the most part he’s laidback, very tolerant of people, very friendly.”
Toby loves both giving and receiving attention, and “he’s good with other dogs,” Hecker explained.
In recent years, Toby and his owner have brought joy not only to local library patrons, but also to nursing home residents, stressed Lehigh students during their final exam periods and elementary school students at district festivals and in classrooms.
Noelle Kramer, Hellertown Area Library Director, agreed to allow Toby to visit the library when she became director. She said children were able to come see and pet him when they came in to check out books, which quickly made him popular.
Toby has been visiting the library weekly since March, and so far nearly everyone has fallen in love with him. Hecker visited the library with Toby regularly between September and December of last year, but took a break when he became the father of puppies.
Toby currently visits the Hellertown Area Library on Mondays from 3 to 4 p.m., and a lot of kids who visit at that time are ready to give him a huge hug whenever they see him.
“He’s just a big sweetheart,” Kramer said. “He’s huge and just a big teddy bear. He loves pets. He loves when people come to see him. If you sit down on the floor, he’ll walk down on your lap. He thinks he’s a lap dog. He’s just a big, sweet, lovable dog.”
She said Toby provides a sense of calm with his presence and relaxes library guests who just can’t seem to resist petting him. Kramer added that studies have shown touching and petting a dog may even have health benefits, such as by lowering one’s heart rate.
Kramer said part of the “therapy” a pet like Toby is able to provide is an all-encompassing acceptance. Pets love unconditionally, so they don’t care what anyone looks like.
“He doesn’t care whether you’re tall, thin, skinny,” she said. “He just loves the attention and gives that love and attention right back.”
Before Toby began his library rounds, he had a successful career as a show dog, competing in numerous shows throughout the Mid-Atlantic region and earning the titles of champion, grand champion, bronze grand champion and, lastly, at age five, silver grand champion.
Toby appeared in the National Dog Show on Thanksgiving in 2013, 2015 and 2016, and won best of breed each of those years, Hecker said. In 2016 he was ranked among the top 15 Greater Swiss Mountain dogs in the country, she added.
In addition to competing in shows, Toby loves karting and has also done cattle herding and pack hiking.
Most importantly, however, Hecker said Toby raises people’s spirits and gives Saucon Valley residents the chance to forget about their worries, if only for a few minutes, when he visit the Hellertown Area Library each week.
“That’s the therapy,” she said. “Get them talking. Get them thinking about other things they enjoy.”
