Stay smart around your dogs

Dogs Trust will be delivering dog safety workshops next week

Dogs Trust, the UK’s largest dog welfare charity, will be delivering dog safety workshops to children across Greater Manchester next week (June 11-17) as part of its second annual Be Dog Smart week.

The charity’s Education and Community Officer for Greater Manchester, Anna Baatz, based at Dogs Trust Manchester, will be visiting schools reaching more than 300 children over the course of the week, to ensure they understand how to behave around dogs, particularly in the home.

So far this year Anna has held workshops in 55 primary schools across all ten boroughs of Greater Manchester, reaching close to 10,000 pupils.

A survey of parents revealed that 39% of children in the North West come into contact with a dog every single day and 63% of these dogs belong to their family or a close relative.

More than 62% of busy parents in the region admitted they have never taught their child to behave around dogs, but around 49% have seen their child pulling a dog’s tail, lying or sitting on a dog and kissing a dog’s nose.

The awareness week is just one of a number of initiatives the charity is putting in place to help ensure dogs and children live harmoniously together.

Education and Community Officer Anna said: “Be Dog Smart Week is an important initiative that will help us continue to spread fundamental dog safety advice to hundreds of children and parents across the UK.

"While being around dogs can have so many wonderful benefits for young people, the simple fact is that any dog can bite or snap if they are worried or hurt.

"Be Dog Smart week allows us to reach even more children with our safety messaging.

“We can’t teach dogs to understand when and why a child might act in a certain way towards them, but we can teach children how to care for their dogs and behave responsibly around them.

"At Dogs Trust, we believe educating children, parents, grandparents, friends, teachers, guardians, and dog owners about dog safety, is the first step to preventing bite-related incidents."

The charity’s 26 Education and Community Officers will be visiting schools across the country, reaching over 14,000 children over the course of the week, to ensure they understand how to behave around dogs, particularly in the home.

So far this year the charity’s Education and Community Officers have held workshops in 1,584 primary schools, reaching 176,418 pupils.

If you are a parent or guardian and would like further information about our Be Dog Smart campaign, or if you’d like to book a workshop, please visit www.bedogsmart.org.uk