Hey everyone, sorry its been a while - we have been so busy and have lots of exciting plans and developments to share with you over the next few weeks!
This weekend we attended a lovely village fayre which was a huge hit despite the torrential rain! We were invited to do a talk to children in the local village about how to be dog savvy. So complete with our big coats me and Mavis braved the rain to show children how to meet a strange dog for the first time and Mavis was the star of the show getting lots of pats and strokes.
There is nothing more special than growing up with a dog, some of my fondest memories of being a child are with my dogs, Boozer and Spike. I strongly believe every child should have a dog in their life, OK I guess I am biased!
The main message we wanted to deliver to the children was that no matter how friendly or cute a dog looks there are a number of important rules they must always remember:
- Always ask the owners permission to say Hello! Some dogs are just so friendly that they could knock a small child over!
- Never approach head on, Children are more at a dogs eye level and approaching head on, particularly when excited can feel very confrontational and over-whelming for a dog - remember if they are on a lead and feel threatened like this they cant remove themselves from the situation and may growl or worse. This is not the dogs fault, if someone jumped on you and you felt trapped how would you react
- Always let the dog sniff and come to you, hold your hand and then when the dog has had a sniff then calmly and gently stroke him
- if a dog is off lead and approaches a child, the most important thing for that child to do is stand still, with arms across chest and dropping anything n the hands (especially if that is a toy). Dogs react to our energy so if a child runs screaming the dog may see this as a game and run after the child which can be terrifying for the child and their parents.
Every parent should spend time with their children ensuring they know how to greet a dog politely and how to react when the dog is being a little over friendly. If your child is scared of dogs then find a friendly, placid dog who you can safely introduce them to so they start to build up their confidence.
Contact us for more advice on this subject, I am passionate about helping dogs have happy, healthy lives with their families and will be happy to answer any questions you might have on this subject, equally if you are thinking of getting a dog we offer a support service helping you choose the right breed, age and introduce your new dog to the family in the right way.
And did you know - the only breed of dog with 'good with children' in its breed standard if The Staffordshire Bull Terrier' - of course that doesn't mean other breeds aren't good with children but it does demonstrate what wonderful dogs Staffies are and how they can be so misunderstood.
Becky x
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