I've been invited

[Jesseca]

To talk to my daughter's kindergarden class about dog rescue. I'm so excited. Though I am coming up with ideas to tone it down for a room full of 5-6 year olds. Any ideas would be great? I want to make this fun for them.

[call2arms]

Make them draw, or do a collage related to what they think rescue is, how they think it is to be a dog in the treets... Maybe if you can bring a good, quiet and child-appropriate rescur dog you know of!

[luvmyangels]

That is so exciting. I wish you the best of luck.

Can you bring a dog with you?

[Jesseca]

Yes, as long as the school ok's it, I am bringing a pup with me. I thought because of the age group, we'd talk about bite prevention too. Since they are so commonly the ones that get bit

[mnp13]

the AKC has a great booklet that is appropriate for little kids. It's about dog safety, but you might want to take a look anyway.

[Jesseca]

I will, thank you Michelle

[cheekymunkee]

You;ll do GREAT Jess!!

[Jesseca]

Thanks Debby. I'm excited. Lacy wanted me to bring Summer. I tried to explain to her that Summer just gets too excited and not all the kids may love her as much as she does.

[Jenn]

Good luck!! My daughter is 6 and think when she grows up she's going to "rescue" a million animals, . Though she thinks that cows in a pasture, or horses with no home in site need rescued.

[Jesseca]

Good luck!! My daughter is 6 and think when she grows up she's going to "rescue" a million animals, . Though she thinks that cows in a pasture, or horses with no home in site need rescued.

I love the way kids think

[dogcrazyjen]

Awesome! Great PR.

What I do is talk for maybe 3-5 minutes about why dogs end up in rescue, and what the rescue does. I make it very short. Try not to start taking too many questions, they will all want to tell you about thier dogs

Then we talk dog safety. I talk about never waking up a dog, or approaching any dog. How dogs may seem friendly, but are not, and how dogs can get scared if they are strays, and how some may not see or hear well. .

Instead they need to do three things.

One, ask the owner if they can pet the dog.
Two, they have to ask what is the dog's name.(This ensured the owner is present.)
Three, they call the dog to them. (This ensures that if a dog is scared, it is not threatened by the child and does not HAVE to be petted.)

I explain that sometimes a dog can feel scared because even a small child is big to a dog, sometimes the dogs are feeling yucky, or sometimes they are cranky, so even if the owner says it is ok, the dog may not want to be approached. Sometimes owners are not very careful with their dogs. It is not bad if the dog does not want to be petted, just say thank, you maybe some other time and leave the dog alone.

Then in groups of 3-4, we practice on the dog I bring. They ask the questions, then call the dog, then they get to pet her. Then they sit down and the next group goes.

At the very end, I have my dogs do some tricks and obedience exercises, for maybe a minute.

All in all this takes about 10 minutes.

I have been asked back next week again to do the annual career day at the local elementary school. I have had kids on the street say...mom, that is the lady that came to school with the dogs!!


Please let us know how it goes!!

[Jesseca]

Thank you that's an awesome way of doing it