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LAKESIDE - On a recent hot and dusty day, a pack of bug-eyed Chihuahua's rambled into this tiny coastal town on a mission.

A mission of literacy.

Little did their tiny heads know it, but the heptad of yapping dogs, bearing names such as Duke, Prince and Dixie Ann were being used to lure youngsters into the Lakeside Public Library to kickoff its summer reading program.

It worked.

While the canines, who hovered about on seemingly invisible legs - and billed as a singing and dancing troupe - clearly were the main draw, a display table nearby, stacked with books, such as “Hound Heaven,” by Linda Oatman High; “Salty Dog: The Adventures of Wishbone,” by Brad Strickland and “Fox in Sox,” by Dr. Seuss, didn't get overlooked by the youngsters either.

Before and after the show, about 10 children perused not only the dog books, but the library's shelves and checked books out - dog-related or not.

Mission accomplished.

Bernadine Vincent, a volunteer program director at the library - and chief Chihuahua owner - cooked up the idea to bring the houndy troubadours to the library with her daughter, Laura. The two, and their dogs, are something of a traveling variety show, making stops at retirement homes, hospitals, hospice centers and foster care facilities.

After a short puppet show, in which the kids were taught that pets aren't toys, the Vincents introduced the dogs to the children and described their lineage and showed off the diversity among the breed: long hair, short hair, blue hair - barely any hair.

“He won't bite you - but he will lick you,” Laura warned the aspiring readers as one of the Chihuahua's shot into the crowd.

After the dogs got to know the kids, the pack moved to the Lakeside Senior Center where a lonely piano sat in the corner. Time had finally come for what the youngsters had been waiting for: How would the dogs sing and dance?

Bernadine explained to the children that what they were about to hear may be mistaken by some for barking or howling.

But it was actually “real singing.”

Laura sat down on the piano bench and immediately began pounding out a frenetic ditty sure to get the dogs fired up.

But - no dice (however, the tunes did compel one excited Chihuahua to hop up and tickle the ivories with his paws).

The Vincents were getting a little discouraged. Maybe the dogs were suffering from a case of stage fright?

Then slowly, sporadically, with a yip-yip here and a yip-yip there (and a little encouragement from their handlers), the singing Chihuahuas of Lakeside hit a couple of notes.

But it wasn't quite the din the entertainers had hoped to unveil on the oogling youngsters.

“Just like children - they never perform when you want them to,” Nadine Goodrich, the library director quipped.

The Lakeside library summer reading programs, funded by the Friends of the Lakeside Public Library, are tentatively scheduled to be held every Tuesday at 1 p.m. until school starts. The July 10 program is called, “Is Your Mama a Llama?” followed by July 17th's “Keep A Sheep.” (It's about wool - your child will not be coming home with an animal.)

The Lakeside Public Library, 915 North Lake Road., is open from noon to 6 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays; noon to 5 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays; 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Fridays and from noon to 4 p.m. on Saturdays.