Stockholm - Children can polish their reading skills by practising to read aloud to their dogs, according to a new Swedish study.

Two Swedish students at a teacher's training college presented the suggestion in a joint essay at the University of Skovde.

"A dog doesn't judge and I can practice listening to my own voice and become more confident," Rebecka Dirfeldt and Cecilia Persson on Monday told Swedish radio.

The two said they had put the method to practise after spotting an article about specially-trained dogs in the United States that were trained to sit still while children read to them.

The two college students asked a number of 8-year-olds who had a pet dog to practise reading aloud to their pet.

The overall result was favourable even though some dogs ran off and others fell asleep during the exercise, Persson told Swedish radio.

"Most enjoyed that someone sat still and listened," she said, adding that when she and Dirfeldt start teaching they will encourage their students to read aloud to their dogs. (dpa)