This mini Australian Shepherd's owner swears the dog can read

LOUISVILLE, KY (KTRK) -- We've all seen some talented dogs: Dogs that can shake hands, run agility courses, even find lost people.

But what about a dog that can read?

Meet Mia! She's a mini Australian Shepherd that her owner swears can actually read, WAVE-TV reports.

Maureen Ward is Mia's owner, but she's also a dog trainer. She says she's developed a pretty quick method for teaching Mia and any other dog to read and understand words.

"When I say by week four your dogs are qualified to read, and they're like no way!" Ward says of other owners. "And sure enough the dogs are reading by four weeks and their jaws are just dropping to the ground."

Mia recently got to show off her reading skills for students at a school in her hometown of Louisville, Kentucky.

Maureen holds up cards with words on them, like "wave" or "spin"

The smart dog reads the cards and then acts out what each card says.

Maureen says she believes dogs learn to read much in the way people do, by recognizing certain letters. She also says dogs are capable of learning so much more than just sit and stay.

"People don't realize what they can do," says Ward.