New study shows kids' reading improves in presence of dogs

Struggling young readers could be turning a new page as a new UBC Okanagan and Brock University study reveals that the presence of a pooch can make all the difference.

UBC Okanagan School of Education doctoral student Camille Rousseau examined the behaviour of 17 children from Grades 1 to 3 while reading with and without a dog, to find out whether a child would be motivated to read for longer periods in the presence of a therapy dog.

Prior to the study, each child was assessed on reading ability and given a moderately challenging passage to either read in the presence of a dog, or without a dog, for as long as they chose to. 

“I wasn’t sure if the dog was going to be a distraction or they were going to concentrate more on the reading,” says Rousseau, "but what we found is that when the dog was present in the room, the children would be reading more often. As we followed up with the children, we asked them about their confidence and interest in the reading. It turns out they were also more interested and had more confidence in the presence of that dog.” 

Rousseau plans to continue her research into canine-assisted interventions for children through UBC’s therapy dog program, Building Academic Retention through K9’s (BARK). 

She hopes the study will increase understanding of how children’s reading can be enhanced by man’s best friend, and structure programming to fit. 

"Coming to UBCO was a natural step forward into the research I wanted to do with therapy dogs and with children, because this is the ideal place for innovative research - especially with the opportunities the BARK lab provides. I'm just really appreciative of what I’ve been able to do so far and the collaborations I’ve been able to do for research."