Source: Getty
Missouri has a program at their humane society that is called “Shelter Buddies Reading Program.” This program is to help kids and dogs…
How?
The program is designated to help the children practice their reading to a non-judgmental audience, the doggies in the shelter.
And, it’s also there to help the shy pets to become more sociable and adoptable.
“We started this for two reasons,” said JoEllyn, the assistant director at the Humane Society. “Dogs in a shelter environment exhibit a lot of signs of anxiety and show stress signals, so we wanted to do something to comfort them, and we have a lot of children in our area who are really engaged and they ask, ‘How can I help? How can I make a difference?'”
The kids who read to the pets range from 6 to 15, they are also put through a program to help them learn and understand the dogs and their body language too.
JoEllyn said, “These dogs, if you had seen them before the kids sat down, these were the dogs who would stay at the back of t heir kennel, scared. The goal is to get the dog to come to the front of the kennel by the time they finish their book, or a few books.”
It’s a good program and the dogs and children are learning a lot.
Via:abcnews.com
