Judy and I always love to visit children. This time we were invited to Prem’s K3 class. They were studying Community Helpers and wanted to know about the work we do at Care for Dogs. All the children were very excited when we arrived and could barely listen to the lesson when Judy rolled over to ask for belly scratches.

They asked many questions and shared stories as I talked about all the important chores that needed to be done to take care of the 150+ dogs and puppies at the shelter. We discussed the importance of sterilization and proper care of pets. The children already knew a lot about what dogs need, especially attention, playtime and love.

We ended the hour with a very important subject – safety. Children are sometimes victims of dog bites, often by dogs they know. Most of the time this happens when they are not being supervised by adults and they mistakenly chase a shy dog, corner a scared dog, approach an unfriendly dog or cuddle a dog that doesn’t want to be cuddled.

We talked about which dogs to approach and how to approach them. The only dogs that are safe to approach are dogs with their owners, only after asking permission first. All the children took turns meeting Judy properly, approaching slowly, asking permission, then extending a hand for Judy to smell.

Thank you to the children at Prem for their generous donations of blankets, towels and toys. We’re happy to see community service start at such a young impressionable age.

We at Care for Dogs welcome every opportunity to help anyone, children and adults, to better understand dogs so we can safely and humanely live together.

If your class or group would like us to visit and do a short lesson on care or safety, just contact us to make an appointment.