Meet Doogle, the dog that helps youngsters learn to read.
The eight-year-old Labradoodle makes regular visits to King James’ School at Almondbury with his owner Emma Kilroy, the school’s medical officer, to provide a calming influence for pupils who are anxious about reading out loud or for pupils needing emotional support as a result of problems at school or at home.
Doogle is registered with the Pets as Therapy charity and is part of its Read2Dog programme which runs in schools. Emma has Doogle with her during one-to-one reading sessions in which students who lack confidence in reading can focus their attention on reading to Doogle.
Said Emma: “The theory is that he calms them down. He helps lower their anxiety about reading out loud. They read to him and it encourages them to improve over a number of weeks.
“He also helps students who are struggling with problems at home or school. They talk to him in the welfare room and once a week he offers that support.
“They can chat about him and once they feel confident, start reading for about 10 minutes. Doogle lies at their feet and the pupils find themselves patting his head absent-mindedly while they read.”
Emma said dogs on the programme can only work for two hours a day for their own well-being and Doogle is never allowed to be on his own with the students.
Pets As Therapy was founded in 1983 by the late Lesley Scott-Ordish, who devoted most of her life to investigating and writing about the bond between humans and animals.
The charity aims to enhance health and well-being through visits to schools, care homes, hospices and hospitals by volunteers and their behaviourally-assessed animals.
Pets as Therapy helps to tackle issues such as loneliness and improve the lives of people suffering from conditions such as autism, dementia and stroke while the Read2Dogs programme aims to improve literacy in children by developing their confidence, interest and enjoyment in reading.
Emma, who lives at Holmfirth and has had Doogle since he was a pup, said: “He has always been very calm in an indoor situation. Outside he goes mad and runs about with the best of them. There is something about him that people like.”
She said Doogle loved his trips to school. “He loves it because he gets to meet lots of people and sniffs along the corridors to see if anyone has dropped any crisps!
“It’s a really rewarding thing. He cheers up the whole school. He cheers up the students and the staff. He just makes people smile in an environment that can be quite high pressured.”
The Read2Dog programme at King James’ School only began during the term before Christmas, but Emma said she had already seen improvements in the youngsters’ reading and general confidence levels, thanks to Doogle.
She said: “We even have a student who is quite frightened of him, but today he gave Doogle a pat on the head, which is quite a step forward.”
