Originally published in Interactions, Vol. 19, No. 3, 2001

by Sandi Martin

Walk into the school library on any Wednesday afternoon at 3:00 pm at Bennion Elementary School in Salt Lake City, Utah, and you will see a most unique and unexpected sight – children who have had difficulty in learning to read reading stories to therapy dogs. The same sight will await you on Saturday afternoons at all Salt Lake City libraries. On these 2 days, Pet Partners teams from Intermountain Therapy Animals (ITA) work as reading mentors in the Reading Education Assistance Dogs (R.E.A.D.) Program.

The R.E.A.D. Program was created in the Fall of 1999 by my Portuguese Water Dog Pet Partner, Olivia, and me. As a member of Intermountain Therapy Animals Board of Directors, I was aware of the common issues faced by many challenged children who, in addition to other problems, have had difficulty learning to read. These kids often have low self-esteem, lack confidence, find the tasks that they need to do to recover difficult, and are often intimidated and anxious in the presence of therapists, peers, and family. I have seen the impact that therapy animals can have on these problems. I couldn't help but ask myself why wouldn't therapy animals have the same impact on reading skills for these children? My hypothesis was that these kids would be able to relax and become less anxious when reading, be able to focus on their reading, and find reading fun, which would result in improved reading scores and improved self-esteem.

This type of program demands a lot of the Pet Partners teams. The handler and the animal should enjoy working with children – especially those who are at risk. The handler should be flexible and ready to improvise; these visits are unstructured so the handler must be comfortable in such a setting. The handler must also be willing to learn basic techniques for teaching literacy, and, of course, should love to read. The animal member of the team should also be comfortable with kids and not be stressed by crowds of children shrieking, petting, and hugging it. The noise level is often dramatic when working with children. Finally the animal needs to be able to lie quietly by the child while being read to.

Since March, 2000, 10 children have been formally enrolled in a R.E.A.D. pilot to test my hypothesis. The children, ages 5 to 9 years, were reading below grade level. The school had identified all of them as at-risk youth. Once a week, Kathy McNulty and her Pet Partners Akita, Kiyoshi, and Olivia and I met with these children. Each child was able to read one-on-one for approximately 20 minutes with a R.E.A.D. team. Each quarter, the school's reading specialist evaluated the children in the pilot using nationally recognized literacy tests. All of the children improved their reading scores significantly. One child's score went from a 3.4 grade reading level to a 6.8 grade level in 15 months. A number of children's reading scores exceeded their grade level.

Improved reading scores were not the only changes that were noted. The teachers also identified the following:

And even more impressive, 4 of the kids received AAA Awards (all “A”s on their report cards in science, math, and reading).

R.E.A.D. teams are now working at 3 elementary schools, one juvenile detention facility with adolescent boys, a boys and girls club, and in 3 city libraries. The Salt Lake City library system has R.E.A.D. teams in each branch every Saturday afternoon from 1:00-3:00 pm. They call the program, “Dog Day Afternoons.” As of this writing approximately 800 children have read with a R.E.A.D team.

To learn more about the R.E.A.D. program, contact:

Editor's Note:

Olivia passed away a few weeks before this article was written. Olivia's spirit continues to live on through the R.E.A.D. program. Thank you Sandi for sharing your story during this difficult time.