The intermediate courses include nursing care, psychological counseling, education and training for special children, teaching on how to combine therapy dogs to improve children's reading and dictation skills, and improving the expression skills of trainees.

Small animals are a social learning medium that can promote children's empathy, sharing spirit and practical abilities, and indeed can be an extension of parental education, Wu says.

"In fact, the way a child treats a small animal reflects whether the parent's way of educating the child is correct and reasonable, and whether the child's personality is normal."

This is just one good reason for encouraging families to keep pets and to train and teach them with correct concepts, he says.

zhanglei@chinadaily.com.cn