It seems that every day we read about someone somewhere suffering from a dog attack. Often it’s children.
Doggone Safe.
That’s not too surprising as kids’ faces are often at the same level as dogs’ faces, and kids are seldom aware enough or able to ‘read’ a dog’s body language. They just don’t know when a dog is ‘saying’ “back off”.
And we adults don’t always understand too well either. Even after living a lot of my life with dogs, I still misinterpret sometimes.
The Doggone Safe organisation, based in Canada, wants to change that:
Doggone safe is a non-profit organization dedicated to dog bite prevention and dog bite victim support.
Doggone Safe’s mission is to promote education initiatives for the purpose of dog bite prevention and increased child safety around dogs and to provide support for dog bite victims.
The Doggone Safe Blog also has a lot of useful information, such as one recent post with some “do not” rules like these:
- Do not hug a dog, put your face close to his face or lie on him. Do sit beside your dog, rub his chest or scratch him on the side of the neck.
- Do not play chase-me games with a dog. Do play hide and seek – where the dog has to find you or an object that you hide.
Then there’s also the Be a Tree Dog Safety for kids programme:
The Be a Tree TM Program is a fun and interactive presentation for children that teaches them how to read dog body language and be safe around dogs. The program is administered by Doggone Safe, a non-profit organization dedicated to dog bite prevention through education, and dog bite victim support. The program is supported by a Teacher Kit produced by Doggone Crazy! that contains photos and games to teach kids how to "Be a Tree" and act safely around dogs.
The Be a Tree program is available across North America and around the world. Approximately 500,000 children have benefited from the lessons learned in this program. Presenters include dog trainers, humane educators, pet sitters, groomers, veterinarians, veterinary technicians, teachers, childcare workers and others interested in community service and child safety.
Have you used the Be a Tree programme? What results did you have?
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