If you thought this headline might be about a way to teach your dog to read-while that might be fun-it's actually about your kids.

If your elementary school-aged child would rather play video games than read a book, then Reading with Rover might be a good way to rekindle their interest.

Reading with Rover is a program begun in Bothell, Washington by a librarian named MeiMei Wu who had heard about another program in Utah called R.E.A.D (Reading Education Assistance Dogs).

Wu contacted Dotti Snow, who was involved with the DELTA Society, which provides therapy animals for hospital visits.

Dotti contacted a dog trainer named Becky Bishop to help Mei Mei Wu build the idea into a formal program in full affiliation with R.E.A.D.

Today Reading with Rover has as many as ninety teams around the region helping children aged seven to twelve who read below grade level or who are at risk or have self-confidence or self-esteem issues.

The concept is based on studies that indicate a number of benefits of the presence of an animal in healing and in learning environments.

According to the studies, just having a pet can lower blood pressure, reduce stress, anxiety, anger and depression.

For the Reading with Rover teams, they have found that children respond well to reading to dogs, since there is no risk of embarrassment in slow reading, lack of understanding a word or in mispronunciation.

At Camelot Elementary School on 298th Street last Wednesday, one team headed up by Becky Bishop brought three dogs to Mrs. Tuning's class, and the mood in the classroom was clearly one of excitement for the children.

Zoom, a three-year-old black lab, Chance, a six-year-old Corgi and Miss Brenda, an eight-year-old golden lab, were escorted in for a "dog in the middle" reading session.

As the teacher organized the desks, Becky Bishop prepared free books with "pawtographs" of her therapy dog by inking Zoom's paw and applying it to the books.

"It's just so neat to see them (the children) improve," she said.

While Ellen Lorenzen did the same thing with her dog Chance, team member Mary Rutherford explained the rewards of helping with the program.

"There's so much enjoyment in watching them read and excel, Rutherford said, "We have people lining up to join."

As part of the program, along with the roundabout reading sessions, there are free gifts. Bishop explains, "Kids love to get a book that smells new...and all these kids will get a 'Reading with Rover' t-shirt too."

The program appears to work well, too. Testimonials on the website, readingwithrover.org are full of high praise from parents with reading challenged or special needs kids.

Mary Rutherford explained that all the dogs and trainers must be certified by the DELTA Society, and that they work with kids from "kindergarten all the way up to 5th grade."

She also touted the good news of the programs success, "Before we began the program on Thursdays, that was the lowest attendance day of the week, since we started bringing the dogs, it's the highest attendance."

The teacher, Mrs. Tuning smiled and agreed, " We have 100 percent attendance today."

All the people who work on the teams are volunteers and with the program touring schools, bookstores and libraries all across the state, more volunteers are needed.

Mary added emphatically, "But we need people in the south end!"

While the children clearly benefit from the novel approach, the dogs seem to like it too. Mary said, "I tell the kids, 'You're reading so well, you just put him to sleep!'"

For more information, go online to www.readingwithrover.org.