Reading to a Therapy Dog; More Opportunities Than You May Realize
Therapy Dogs and reading, they go together like peanut butter and jelly!
But perhaps for more reasons than you realize!
Sure there are popular programs where children take turns reading to a patient therapy dog at school or a library, but did you realize there’s other ways to involve a canine companion to directly target specific literacy skills? Read on to find my three favorite ways to incorporate animal-assisted interventions with my reading clients, plus one I’m excited to try.
(Note: The field of Speech-Language Pathology is vast and no one professional can specialize in every aspect. I happen to have taken extensive continuing education in teaching literacy using the phonological and language-based skills underlying proficient reading and have applied this in practice for many years.)
A young client working on oral and written language reads to therapy dog Delta as part of an animal-assisted intervention for dyslexia.
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Phonological Awareness as a Foundation Incorporating a Therapy Dog
As a Speech-Language Pathologist, I work frequently on breaking words into syllables and sounds with both my articulation and reading clients.
In graduate school I learned to use a picture of a dachshund cut into three pieces as a visual support, with the head representing the initial sound in a word, the body the medial (middle), and the tail the final. But why not use a real live dog for this activity, adding in the tactile component of feeling dog fur and perhaps some wiggling dog hips?
Be sure to check for your therapy dog’s consent, as with all animal-assisted interventions, to ensure both the dog’s welfare and client safety.
Delta prefers being pet on her back and shoulders instead of her head, so I use her shoulders, hips, and base of tail (or “booty”), make sure the child is petting gently (using hand-under-hand prompting as needed), and always add in treats as appreciation. Every therapy dog has his or her own preferences for how and where to be pet.
Using meaningful words such as the dog’s name, nicknames, breeds, treats, and names of toys can maintain attention longer than randomly selected words. For kids highly motivated by dog facts, I love to use this book of dog breeds for various syllable-based tasks.
To see an example of identifying the word-final sound for a child working on both speech clarity and early-reading concepts, click here.
Community Theatre, Therapy Dog Style
Incorporating movement, humor, and visual components are great ways to make learning stick.
Many kids with reading disabilities struggle with working memory. By acting out skits you capitalize on the “episodic buffer”, a component of working memory that holds emotions and experience. Engaging the episodic buffer can bypass weaker visual and phonological memory systems (sights and sounds).
I personally love and use Wired for ReadingSM, a science of reading based, multi-sensory curriculum. The character skits used to introduce many of the sound-letter correspondences and word-attack strategies lend themselves beautifully to incorporating a therapy dog, especially if that dog shares some personality traits with the letter being taught.
Delta, for example, makes a terrific “Diva Y” as she can be a bit persnickety. Johnny Utah was a wonderful “Clarence” (letter C), as he is so eager to help others. I was even able to find a plaid dog vest that matched the character illustration. And Bodhi captured the essence of “Gadget” (letter G) with his easily distracted nature.
If you choose to use costumes with your therapy dog, please be sure they are physically and emotionally comfortable to maintain good welfare. Costumes should fit well, not be overly hot or restrict natural movements, be introduced prior to an actual session, and used as briefly as possible.
Therapy dog Johnny Utah gives a client a kiss after acting out a play about “two vowels go walking” as part of animal-assisted therapy for reading.
Give Kids a Reason to Read to the Therapy Dog
Yes, many of my kids are happy to practice repeated readings while one of my dogs lies nearby. Even the older kids are generally satisfied when told the therapy dog is listening even if their eyes are closed. Research on the effects of reading to dogs is well summarized in this excellent resource.
But kids really love to take it up a notch and read commands that include the targeted reading skills.
Depending on the child I will either have sets of index cards with commands pre-written, or we read through a word list for ideas of commands to write down and then read. Highlighting or underlining the sound-letter correspondence of focus can further help entrench the new skill in memory.
Copies can be sent home for the child to try with their own pet under parent supervision.
Your therapy dog doesn’t know a lot of tricks? No worries! Reading “Do not ___” can bring shared laughter! To see a video example from an actual session, click here.
Therapy dog Delta provides encouragement and a calming presence while a middle school reading therapy client working on writing letter-sound correspondences.
Bonus—Animal-Related Engagement (ARE) for Reading Therapy
I haven’t actually used this one yet, but while recently studying for the Animal-Assisted Intervention Specialist exam I was intrigued at the idea of a pen-pal type program between my reading clients and my companion dogs who stay at home.
Specifically, I envision getting caregiver permission to record a child reading a passage to “share” with my dog at home, who could “dictate” a note for me to bring back. By practicing the passage together first and then recording, this would encourage repeated practice of new concepts in a meaningful way.
For my kids who knew my Brittany Spaniel Johnny Utah, who is now retired due to age and health concerns, I might use The Little Puppy book about a young Brittany, as I have often called it his favorite book.
For a curated list of other dog-themed books with suggested uses, check out the Animal-Related Engagement page here.
How to Learn More
I can still vividly recall the joy I felt reading simple stories to my pets as a child. While I was lucky to learn to read easily, I can only imagine how much adding multisensory activities with a trained therapy dog might have kept me motivated had I needed more explicit instruction and practice. I see it every day in the kids who come through my door eager to read with my canine co-therapist.
Interested in learning more about partnering with a therapy dog to address a child’s oral and written communication needs?
Follow on Instagram @Speech_Dogs and check out the Animal-Assisted Speech Therapy Resources page for more video examples and a curated list of helpful organizations and products to get you started on your speech therapy dog journey.
And stay tuned for how to get to your own copy of Paws for Progress: Integrating Animal-Assisted Interventions Into Your Speech-Language Pathology Practice, coming from ASHA Press in fall of ’24.
May your day be filled with puppy wiggles and children’s giggles,
Sharlet
