NEXT PROGRAM

We will be offering this class in conjunction with our dog training class FOR KIDS throughout the 2012 year.

Keep an eye out in our newsletter!

Register here

What is it ?

The "Be a Tree" program is a dog bite prevention seminar program for school age children. This program focuses on fun and interactive activities to teach children how to read dog body language and how to act safely around their own dog and strange dogs.

The main message from the presentation is "Be a Tree" if strange dog comes near or any dog is too frisky or is making you uncomfortable.

The session is 45-60 minutes long INCLUDES playing the DOGGONE CRAZY BOARD, quarantee that kids love it. (picture below on this page)

Why have this program?

Half of all children are bitten by a dog by the time they are 12 years old. Dog bites are considered to be a serious public health problem by the American Veterinary Medical Association and by the Canada Safety Council and by New Zealand medical Journal. Most dog bite injuries in young children occur during everyday activities interacting with familiar dogs. You can verify this by conducting an informal survey within your school. Visit a few classrooms and ask for a show of hands of children who have been bitten by dogs. Then ask how many were bitten by their own dog, or another dog that they know. You will be shocked by the response.

The "Be a Tree" program is an innovative and interactive program created by the non-profit

organization Doggone Safe. Children will learn to read dog body language and how to act safely around dogs by looking at large format photographs and by playing interactive games.

The "Be a Tree" program is unique in its use of several different teaching strategies, its focus on physical activity and its emphasis on positive messages. Instead of telling children "don't do this and don't do that", the "Be a Tree" program empowers them with the knowledge they need to make safe decisions based on the body language and the actions of the dog and the situation at hand.

The "Be a Tree" presentation will help your primary teachers meet the injury prevention education goals set out in the curriculum. The program includes a set of suggested follow-up activities designed by teachers and related to dog bite prevention education that are consistent with math, reading and language components of the curriculum. These can be reviewed at the Doggone Safe website

Cost of presentation

We would love to offer this for no cost, but unfortunately we don't get any funding from the community to do this (at the moment). We might find some at a future time, but at the moment, we are financing all cost of materials printed, postage, time, etc ourselves.

School Presentations: A gold coin per child ($2). Minimum 15 children. Each child receives a postcard with pictures to remind them what dogs are safe.

Holiday School Programme: See our programme here

• Powerpoint presentations
• Cards
• Student handouts
• Teacher handout
• Board Game

Click on image for a bigger picture

How to Play the game?

Call for national campaign on dog safety

One News 20 April 2011

With a growing number of dog attacks in New Zealand the Institute of animal control officers is calling for a national campaign to increase awareness of the threats the animals can pose.

ACC has dealt with more than 10,000 attacks in the past year, and just last week four people were hospitalised in south Auckland, and a Christchurch girl's face was badly bitten after attacks by dogs.

Institute president Les Dalton told TV ONE's Breakfast some of these attacks could have been prevented with more education.

"I think we need a nation-wide campaign on the correct way to approach dogs and to look after them properly," he said.

He claimed many people do not know the rules of good dog handling, "hence the two attacks at the weekend where a child was attacked going near a dog that was eating, which is a no-no, and the other where the poor little child went up to a dog that was tied up outside a dairy and copped a big chunk out of her face.

"A dog tied up should not be approached unless the owner is there and can advise it is friendly," he explained.

The three-year old girl was taken to hospital and needed 30 stitches.

Dalton said different breeds of dogs present different levels of risk, and the increasing number of bull-terrier mix animals is a concern.

"They represent 19% of dog bites and attacks," he said.

"When they bite, they bite hard and children are at their face level and they cop it round the face and shoulders leaving scars that any surgeon will tell you are difficult to work on."

But he said a well trained and kept animal is less likely to cause a problem.

"I'd be the first to agree there are people around who are keeping those breeds of dogs that are doing a good job, but there are certainly a hell of a lot more around who are not."

"In my view there are dog owners and dog keepers, and its dog keepers we've got a problem with and we all know who they are in the community."

The Institute has been in discussions with Local Government Minister Rodney Hide, and Dalton said he was very receptive to their concerns.

The family dog is usually the one that bites children as we haven't been taught to look for the signs that a dog is getting stressed. How to read your dog's body language will help with lowering the statistics!

Dog's Do Not Like Hugs and Kisses - we cannot stress this strongly enough. Say it over to yourself 1000 times. It doesn't matter if your dog is a Newfoundland or a Yorkie. Don't think that your dog is an exception to this - because you are wrong and you are setting your child and your dog up for potential tragedy. Teach your kids not to hug or kiss the dog on the face. Hugging the family dog or face-to-face contact are common causes of bites to the face. Teach your kids to scratch the dog on the chest or on the side of the neck  - most dogs do enjoy this. If your child is a toddler or does not follow instructions, then do not allow access to the dog unless you have your hands on the dog.

Read Stop your puppy from biting

Get one of us from the School of the Naked Dog to come and give you some advice about your puppy, or better yet, come to our Kinderpuppy Class.