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How Dogs Can Boost Literacy: The Benefits of Reading with Pets

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Originally published in TEACH Magazine, September/October 2018 Issue

By Meagan Gillmore

One of the best literacy teachers Jane Swire knows is her dog, Blizzard.

About three years ago, the Grade 7 and 8 teacher at John T. Tuck Public School in Burlington, ON, began volunteering with St. John Ambulance’s therapy dog program. Along with visiting nursing homes, she and her nine-year-old Alaskan Malamute also visit the local library once a week during the school year as part of the organization’s Paws 4 Stories program.

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Meagan Gillmore is a freelance writer in Toronto, ON.

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