On Friday, 20 February, four dogs successfully underwent the assessment process for Story Dogs, a nationwide reading program assisting children to read and practice literacy with confidence.

Story Dogs qualified assessor Liam Murdock was happy to announce that each dog passed and so the in-person training followed that day for each of the Wangaratta-based volunteers.

Noel Boyd, the first Story Dogs volunteer in Wangaratta, said he was eager to have more people - and dogs - on board.

“Presently, we have three trained dog teams working in Wangaratta schools," he said.

“And soon, we will have a further three teams [in Wangaratta] after they began their training on Friday, 20 February."

Story Dogs is a non-profit charity organisation servicing more than 2600 children each week.

The idea is that by having a child read to a calm dog over a period of time, the child feels relaxed and is able to build reading and public speaking confidence.

Noel Boyd and his dog Arlo are just one of 530 volunteer dog teams across the country.

"The dog is the magic in these weekly one-on-one sessions," Noel said.

Noel, after extensive training, can now train new teams, and said Story Dogs has been growing beyond Wangaratta.

Some further online training is now underway, and then the four new dog teams will be ready to work in schools.

Each team will work with up to five grade 2 students at a designated time each week.

“Over the past two years I have seen children undergo huge confidence transformations in their willingness to read," Noel said.

“I put it all to the calming influence of the dog.

“This is a program that really works."

For more information, visit storydogs.org.au.

Anyone interested in volunteering, donating or becoming a sponsor is encouraged to contact admin@storydogs.org.au.