Therapy dogs ‘listen’ as kids read to them
April 6, 2020
Kids are out of school but they still need to keep up on their reading skills—and what better way to practice than with a virtual session with some therapy dogs?
A therapy dog named Marvin appeared in the first Facebook Live reading session hosted by DoveLewis on Tuesday. More than 500 parents and young readers joined the hour-long session where Marvin “listened” from his bed as kids read their books to him from their homes.
Hundreds more got the chance to read to other therapy dogs in Facebook live sessions on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
DoveLewis had to suspend its normal reading program in March as state officials issued tighter “Stay Home” restrictions. The organization decided to move its efforts to Facebook to continue helping children.
DoveLewis has more than 80 teams of dogs and handlers and has volunteered more than 7,000 hours supporting people in need last year.