Abstract
This chapter reports on a multistep university course project on dogs and children, which ultimately led to a community outreach of young children reading to shelter dogs. First, we review the research and anecdotal accounts about the benefits of animal-assisted activities (AAA), in particular benefits that children gained from the interaction with dogs. Also we give an overview of the current status of the infusion of humane education in teacher education courses. Then, we describe a university course project which aimed to activate early childhood professionals’ awareness about the positive contributions of the child-dog interaction for child development, and about possible curricular integration. Furthermore, we describe an initiative called Reading Buddies, in which young children read to shelter dogs. This program was created as a consequent step of the university course project. The insights and voices of participants both in the course and the community outreach program are shared. The chapter concludes with recommendations for collaborative projects between university and animal welfare groups, such as Reading Buddies—a project in which children read aloud to shelter dogs.