Animal-assisted speech therapy education & resources

Animal-assisted speech therapy client reads to therapy dog.

Helping SLPs safely & effectively partner with a speech therapy dog to reach client goals.

Speech therapy dog gives deep pressure input.

May your days be filled with puppy wiggles & children’s giggles.

Your animal-assisted therapy resources are here!

Your animal-assisted therapy resources are here!

Speech therapy dog book Paws for Progress cover

Now there’s two resources to help you start your therapy dog journey today!

Speech therapy dog course Talk to the Paw sample pages.
Speech therapy dog gets brushed by child.

Ever wondered how you can bring the joy of animal-assisted therapy to your workplace?

I’ve been partnering with speech therapy dogs since 2019 to add animal-assisted interventions to:

  • speech and language therapy

  • oral-motor therapy

  • reading therapy

Child leans on therapy dog in animal-assisted speech therapy.

I’d love to share the joys and challenges of my learning journey so that you can safely, effectively, and enjoyably incorporate the special power of speech therapy dogs to:

  • reach kids who are difficult to engage

  • motivate kids for faster progress

  • develop personalized activities to address a range of communication goals

Animal-Assisted Speech Therapy

Benefits for kids and families

A speech therapy dog can be incorporated to:

  • calm and engage children who are hyperactive and/or avoidant

  • stimulate children with low levels of responsiveness

  • motivate children for additional practice

  • ease transitions between activities as well as into and out of therapy sessions

  • reduce stress in caregivers and siblings

  • practice difficult skills without fear of judgment

  • provide meaningful contexts for practicing a new skill

  • provide memorable learning experiences for greater carryover

Benefits for speech therapists

Clinicians can benefit from partnering with a speech therapy dog by:

  • attracting and maintaining clients by creating a value-add to your practice’s services

  • facilitating calmer, more joyful therapy sessions

  • increasing mindfulness and movement breaks with a best friend throughout the work day

  • having a greater variety of activities to reduce burn-out

  • potentially increasing client attendance

  • "Therapy dogs have been so imperative to my son’s therapy; it’s built in him an excitement to use his words."

    mother of a preschooler with Childhood Apraxia of Speech and language delay

  • "The dogs really make me feel calm and relaxed even when I can’t ask for it."

    12 year old boy with Childhood Apraxia of Speech

  • "When I get through the door they come and snuggle with me. That helps me become relaxed before I start my speech session."

    9 year old girl with Dyslexia and phonological impairment

  • "As a parent I couldn’t help but notice [my child's] goals and targets were met quicker than ever before with assistance from the dogs."

    mother of a middle-school speech therapy client

Meet Your Speech Therapist

Speech therapy dog Delta poses with Sharlet Jensen.

Sharlet Lee Jensen, M.S., CCC-SLP, C-AAIS

Speech-Language Pathologist & Animal-Assisted Interventionist

Author, Paws for Progress: Integrating Animal-Assisted Interventions into Your Speech-Language Pathology Practice (AHSA Press, 2024)

My Story:

Around 5 years ago, I found myself feeling stuck trying to find a way to connect with an extremely challenging child. This child made it very clear how much he hated coming to speech and, sometimes, how much he hated me. 

As I worked out how to build a connection with him, I decided to draw on our shared love of animals, bringing my dog, Delta Dawn, to a special session to see if we’d at least be able to build a little rapport. 

It. Was. Magic...

Animal-Assisted Speech Therapy as featured by…

Podcast interview about animal-assisted speech therapy.

The Speech Link with Char Boshart (link coming soon!)

Animal-assisted speech therapy podcast episode thumbnail.
Animal-assisted speech therapy featured in ASHA Leader.
Animal related engagement with dog tokens.

Learn more about speech therapy dogs on The Puppy Wiggles and Children’s Giggle blog!

Here’s a few favorite past articles…

Speech therapy dog gets pets.
Speech therapy dog give deep pressure input to reading therapy child.
School therapy dog helps animal-assisted speech therapist at a high school.

Pawsitive Learning: Therapy Dogs in Schools (with special guest contributors)

🐕‍🦺I had such a great time writing the latest Puppy Wiggles and Children's Giggles blog article, getting to know four dedicated and innovative animal-assisted therapists working with their therapy dog partners to better children's social and em
🐕‍🦺What happens when you take children who have experienced trauma, abuse, or years of social and academic failure and introduce an open-hearted therapy dog to their educational experience? Following up on part one of the article "Pawsi