Hey Gallus! I remember you saying that one of the things Arwen was trained to do was be reading buddies with people learning a new language. Do you remember roughly how Arwen was taught to do this? There may be a smart dog in my future, and I was looking up ways to entertain and occupy their brain when I remembered some of your stories about Arwen. Do you reckon that training could be replicated to some degree at home?
Good news! Even a dog thatâs as dumb as a sack of hammers can make a good reading buddy because the important part is that the dog is people-focused, rather than smart. In practice, reading to a dog goes like this:
1. Select book 2. Call dog to reading place, like a couch you can both sit on. 3. Read the book to the dog like youâre reading it to a six-year old- occasional eye contact, maybe change voices for characters, inflect, emphasize tone etc. 4. Also Pet Dog
Thatâs it thatâs the whole thing.
Understand- even the really smart dogs donât understand English or whatever language youâre reading in, but they do understand that youâre talking to them and engaging in an activity with them, which is what they really appreciate. Your dog doesnât care if youâre reading Horton Hears A Who, Moby Dick or Destiel fanfic. Youâre there petting them and talking to them.
This is beneficial when youâre learnign a new language because it gives you someone to practice speaking/reading aloud to who 100% will not judge you because they canât hear any mistakes and honestly theyâre just happy to be there.
Also, like not all dogs fetch, not all dogs will necessarily enjoy Reading Time. Some are just not verbally engaged, and others might rather you go on a walk with them first. Make sure your Dog is fed/watered/exercised/been potty before reading time for best results.
