Sudbury, Ontario - Reading Tails is a new six-week program that has been designed for children between the ages of 6 and 11 years. The first pilot program began in Sudbury in April of 2007, with five teams and 10 children participating. The children improve their reading skills in 20-minute sessions with the companionship of a certified St. John Ambulance Therapy Dog. It has been found that when a therapy dog is listening, the environment is transformed and a child's dread is replaced by eager anticipation which allows learning to occur. The children also make enormous strides in their reading and communication skills while building self-esteem, confidence and social skills.

Today, Reading Tails is being offered in three surrounding areas and has a total of nine teams and 16 young participants. Due to the high demand of the program, it will be expanding into two more surrounding areas of Sudbury in September 2008. To date Reading Tails has 54 children benefiting from this unique and important partnership.