By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
To many children, it seems inconceivable that all dogs don’t like to be petted by strangers.
But every year, the Wood County Dog Shelter gets reports of dogs biting humans, many of them children.
As of last month, more than 100 dog bites had been investigated by the dog shelter staff. And there are likely far more bites than those reported.
When walking her four dogs together, Wood County Chief Dog Warden Jodi Harding often encounters young children eager to pet her dogs.
“Kids love to run up to them to give them a hug,” Harding said.
But not all dogs want hugs – and that can be a painful lesson to learn for children.
So last year Harding and her staff started a program instructing children how to be safe around dogs. The program doesn’t teach children to be afraid of canines, but it does teach them to be cautious for the safety of themselves and dogs.
The dog shelter staff goes into elementary school classrooms to show how to behave around strange dogs.
“We tell them – you don’t talk to strangers,” and the same rule applies to dogs, Harding said. “You have to get to know a dog first before you can touch them.”
Harding comes with props – either one of her dogs or a stuffed dog.
When talking to kindergartners through fourth graders, the first topic of conversation is always their personal dogs.
“They are excited to tell me about their dogs and what kind they have,” she said. And sometimes, students share with her that they’ve been bitten by a dog.
“We always tell them to get a dog’s permission to pet them,” Harding explained. This involves turning to the side and putting a hand down, and not looking at the dog. “If the dog doesn’t approach them, they don’t want to be petted.”
She reads a story about a little boy who found a stray dog, and then they practice how a child should act when coming upon a dog without a person.
“We learn to ask the owner first” before petting a dog, and to not approach strays, Harding said.
And never approach a strange dog that is eating or playing with a toy.
Harding is hoping that the classroom visits will result in children learning painless lessons about safety around dogs.
