Study shows dogs in Vic classroom a hit

Dogs have been introduced to a classroom in Victoria and there's a good chance the canines will be called back soon.

In a small four-week study, primary school students who completed "dog-based" activities such as reading to a dog or training the dog to jump hurdles, performed better academically than students who just had a dog present during normal classroom activities.

La Trobe University anthrozoology scientist Pauleen Bennett said the results showed including a carefully-trained dog in specific learning-based tasks did improve performance.