Listening dogs help Staffordshire pupils read out aloud

18 October 2011

In the first event of its kind in the Midlands, greyhounds Danny and Batman helped local pupils to brush up on their reading skills.

The session, for children from Oakhill Primary, Glascote Heath, and Lakeside Primary in Tamworth, was run through Reading Education Assistance Dogs (READ), a nonprofit organisation whose aim is to improve the literacy skills of children.

SCAS member Tony Nevett, who has a degree in animal-assisted therapy, trained the dogs after hearing about the success of the programme in the United States – where there are currently around 1,800 listening dogs.

He said: “Danny and Batman are particularly suitable because greyhounds have a single coat of hair and are therefore less likely to trigger allergies, but any dog can be trained as a READ dog, they just need to be placid and good with children.”

County Councillor Pat Corfield added: “The idea is that children will lose their fear of reading aloud because the dog is a non-judgemental, friendly, audience.”