Dogs are Not Toys

The kids in my neighborhood are very good with dogs and they all learned in school. They were taught to:

1. Never go near strange dogs because all dogs can bite.
2. Only approach a dog after asking the dog's owner.
3. Be a tree if you are confronted by a strange dog.

And they are very cute because they will tell every single dog owner in their neighborhood exactly what they learned every single time they pet your dog. It warms my heart.

I was bit in the face by my uncle's huge rottweiler when I was three years old.  I have no memory of the incident, or whether I was doing something to annoy the dog.  However, I've always had a deep respect for dogs as magnificent working animals and also developed a very slight, subconscious fear.  I prefer large dogs, but I've always been more careful about approaching them, probably due to the bite incident in the back of my mind.  Now that I volunteer with large dogs at the Humane Society, I've gotten much better and learned how to properly assert myself when trying to control and train the dogs.  When families with little kids come in, I try to encourage them to read the papers posted on every dog and not just pick based on cuteness.  That way, they know what training the dog needs and learn how the kids should participate in the process.

Personally, I think all kids should get some form of lesson on treating animals as part of their elementary school curriculum.  We didn't get to have this when I was young.  All we had was someone come talk about the Humane Society and a handicapped person talk about his service dog.  I think that knowing how to treat domestic animals is important and relevant enough that kids should have more exposure as part of regular schooling.  Humane Societies and ASPCAs would be more than happy to help teach lessons with our "human education" animals.

When I have kids (not for a while yet) I plan on getting a "home" dog that stays inside and exists to be a companion for the family.  Most of the dogs I prefer aren't best suited for this type of lifestyle, so I plan on having MY dogs and then OUR dog(s).  My kids WILL be taught how they are expected to act and what they can expect from the dog, even if it means paying a behaviorist to help.

Hmmm...you guys are making me think!  I teach second grade and I've never thought of teaching my studens how to interact with dogs.  I think that I'd really like to, but bringing my own dog in to  practice is out of the question (dogs are NOT allowed at my school).  Any ideas?
 
I do like to read books that have well cared-for dogs in them, and we discuss at length any read-aloud that has doghouses, tied up pups or accidental pregnancies (all of which are pretty common in older books).  My favourite doggie read-aloud is about a dog that chews up the couch leg.  The family's reaction?  Mom teaches dog a new trick, dad brings him some bones from the grocery store and the kids take him out for a long game of fetch.  My kids LOVE that book, probably because they like coming up with as many ways as they can to keep the dog happy and busy. 

Random, that's adorable! I wonder if there are any videos that you could show if a live demo won't work? Maybe a brief 5-minute clip or something?

Random, what about dogs that are trained as therapy or humane education dogs?  Would one of them be allowed? (even just for demonstration, without letting kids touch it)  The Humane Society I work at has a Humane Education program and they have one dog and on rabbit they use to demonstrate to kids how to approach and interact with animals.  I don't know if these animals are certified, per se, but they have gone through additional training and socialization and are given the go ahead from the behaviorist in order to demo at an event.

ORIGINAL: Cita

Random, that's adorable! I wonder if there are any videos that you could show if a live demo won't work? Maybe a brief 5-minute clip or something?

There's a ton of stuff on Youtube: clicker training, agility, musical freestyle ...

I work with a school age childcare program and we do a pet unit every year. We start out with our pre-schoolers by reading "Tails Are Not For Pulling" and build on that as far as respecting animals. We end the week by having a "Pet Day" where the staff bring our dogs in for the kids to meet. It's been a great experience for everyone. And we've never had a child behave disrespectfully toward any of our animals-and even had parents comment that at home their kids have been "nicer" to their pets.
I was especially proud this year when my 4th grade group organized a drive to raise money for the local animal shelter.
You can't blame children for their behavior if no one has ever taught them how to act. Much like you can't blame a dog for it's behavior if no one has ever taught him how to behave!

www.nahee.org  

yesterday i was walking the brats downtown and we passed by the main branch of the library- kid city!  a bunch of kids came running up and were almost upon us when their chaperone yelled, "stop, do NOT run at the dogs."  she came over to me and faced her kids and said, "ask politely if you may say hello to these dogs, and if the lady says yes, form a single file line and pat them gently ONE AT A TIME".  i was so happy i almost cried, and i told her so!!
 
so someone is doing SOMETHING right somewhere[]

ORIGINAL: badrap

yesterday i was walking the brats downtown and we passed by the main branch of the library- kid city!  a bunch of kids came running up and were almost upon us when their chaperone yelled, "stop, do NOT run at the dogs."  she came over to me and faced her kids and said, "ask politely if you may say hello to these dogs, and if the lady says yes, form a single file line and pat them gently ONE AT A TIME".  i was so happy i almost cried, and i told her so!!

so someone is doing SOMETHING right somewhere[]

wow!  That is really awesome.  Now if we could only clone a few more like her

I'm lucky, because the kids that come over the most are the 6-yo twins of my good friends that own two well-behaved Bull Mastiffs.  The twins were taught how to treat dogs very early.  Sparky has always been great with them, he loves being around them.  If any neighborhood kids get close enough, he'll lick their faces.  I'd rather he not do THAT, but sometimes his tongue is faster than I am.

When I was a child, we were taught not to bother a dog while they were eating. We could play with them nicely but if the dog growled, back and leave him/her alone.
 
When I was about 6 years old, I kicked the babysitter's dog. Not enough to cause injury but the dog did yelp. She was a beautiful GSD. I see now that I was acting out. This babysitter family was blaming me because their son took apart his own toy and that was my fault. And the asthma that I was suffering, that was my fault, too, as explained by the babysitter's husband in 3 or 4 words of English, etc. So, I was lashing out. By the time I was done getting spankings and lectures, I never ever kicked a dog again. As a child, if you hit, you will be hit. And there's an endless supply of spankings until you behave.
 
So, it was easier to behave than put up with another spanking. Ignoring Mom was not an option. She will find out and there will be Hell to pay. The whole point of the exercise was that it was not acceptable to take your frustrations out on another being, regardless of species. And my mom did tear the babysitter a new one, by the way. We changed to a different babysitter not long after.
 
I get to train children whenever I go into Petco with Shadow. Someone's child will inevitably barrel up on us. I use a calm, steady voice as I instruct them in the proper way to approach a dog who doesn't know them.