Not sure about that to be honest, the dog also can't correct any mistakes or help with pronunciation of difficult words. It's a parents job to help their child to read and make sure they're not nervous of reading aloud because it's something they practise every day at home.
I agree. How can one be sure that the dog is even listening? I also think that this is possibly biased in favour of that pet food manufacturer. I sing to my dog and she will sit and listen until she is bored. But no way would she sit and listen to me reading.
I seen this on tv it shown a young boy that stutters, reading to a dog & when the boy had problem pronouncing a word the dog moved from in front of the boy to being next to the boy & the adult then broke the word down into 4 parts & after the boy said the word the dog moved back in front of the boy again, the boy's parents were saying their son is speaking more & is not so embarrass now that he's reading to a dog, unlike when he at to read in front of the other children.
I have not seen that therefore I do not know how accurate it is. But a trained service dog could probably learn how to help a child read.
When my eldest was little and we practised his reading every evening he habitually read was as saw and vice versa, he also mixed up of and off, how on earth would a dog recognise that, he never stumbled over the words just didn't read them as they were written. I wouldn't stop my kids from reading to the dog although I suspect the dogs would nod off, but nor would I substitute reading to the dog for reading to me. I hated reading practise for the rotten books they used but I still did it.
Children are different as to how they learn to read. My daughter "picked up" reading at a very young age to such an extent that she had partially read books all over the house, and would pick up each one as she came to it to carry on reading. She had gone through all the books in the childrens' section of the local library by the age of ten. My son only discovered the pleasures of reading from Dr Seuss "The Cat In The Hat" when my sister sent it to him, but then he had previously been more interested in playing with his cars than reading. That book fascinated him and taught him the pleasure of reading. They both went to the same school, although two years apart, but the school did not make children read out loud, their theory being that let the child learn at his or her time, and let the parents help.
I'm not sure about the UK but in the States the dogs they use have normally been trained as Reading Education Assistance Dogs (READ). Its a project developed in 1999 by the Intermountain Therapy Animals of Salt Lake City. You can read more about it online if you type in Search "Reading Education Assistance Dogs".
i met some dogs at crufts that do this. i personally think its a great idea and would have loved this to be happening when i was working with children. the child still has to read to teacher and is expected to read at home with parents. it makes reading fun for child due to novelty factor of getting to sit with dog and read otherwise they may not as enthusiastic about reading. the dog doesnt judge or correct and that is the point to help them with confidence in reading without the added pressure of letting anybody down or getting it wrong. time with the dog is practise time ready for reading with the teacher where they will be given correction and help and they wont feel as uneasy about reading with the teacher as they had a practise and confidence booster with the dog. the handler is there if teh child asks for help.
