AFTER two years at primary school, his impressive reading skills have seen him rise to the top of the class.

    He is so advanced, he even helps out classmates learning new words. But Fernie isn’t just a star pupil — he’s the school dog.

    Brought in to encourage the children to enjoy reading by snuggling up with them at story time, the 2-year-old labrador has learned to read himself.

    He can now respond to written commands to sit, lie down, roll over and spin around.

    His owner and headteacher Nik Gardner thinks Fernie is clever enough to learn another 20 instructions, written on identical cards.

    “Training Fernie to recognize words was surprisingly simple,” he said.

    “For his initial training I used the clicker technique, where the dog learns to associate a treat with the distinctive sound. Then, while still using the clicker technique, I started showing him simple commands on a flashcard ... whilst giving him the spoken command.

    “After a while, I ... just used the flashcard on its own because he had learned to read it.”

    Speaking about how Fernie has inspired pupils at Winford Primary School, near Bristol, he added: “If children can see that the dog can read the flashcards then they can do it too – so it’s a huge motivation for them.”

    Mr. Gardner, 38, first brought Fernie to school when he was 5 months old as part of a national scheme called Dogs Helping Kids. Research has shown dogs can have a positive impact on literacy, behavior and self-esteem. He said: “We find [Fernie] has a very positive effect on children’s learning. He’s also on hand for children who might feel nervous or anxious.

    “A few minutes of cuddles really cheers them up.”

    However, leading dog behaviorist Stan Rawlinson is sceptical about Fernie’s reading skills.

    “We tend to look at an animal and think it does the same as we do,” he said. “But it’s totally impossible for an animal to read the spoken word.

    “But they can look at a pattern. If there is a trigger the picture can get the dog to do what it has learned. I never cease to be amazed by what dogs are capable of.”(SD-Agencies)