Safety At Nederland Langham elementary

WOW! what a wonderful group a children. They were well mannered and knew their safety lessons. It was a pleasure for all of the handlers and teams to work with this group of children and coaches.

Special thanks to a number of folks: First to Paws member Karen Bussell for setting this program up in her school district and she and Dallas, her Pet Partner, for being one of the 8 teams. Second: Thanks to the coaches. They used the program as part of their Health and Safety curriculum. They also had a wonderful hand held portable microphone for me so I did not have to shout as I led the program. Third: Thanks to two Pet Partner teams who are not members of Paws but came to support us: Therese Holmes and her Pet Partner Quinn (Rough Collie) and Jamie Moore and her Pet Partner Buster (Yellow Lab). Therese serves at Baptist hospital and Jamie serves at St. Elizabeth. And finally: Special thanks to our team members who drove from the Liberty Area, took off work, or missed an important meeting to serve the children: Rachael Harper and Tank; Cathy Lempa and Gypsy, Karen Bussell and Dallas, Lyvone Hoover and Darla, Frances Pena and Fancy, and Holly and I came along to enjoy the ride.

We have decided to add an exercise about what to do if you are riding a bicycle and chased by a dog. Think about how to do this.

Gypsy & I had a wonderful time! She kissed at least 79 children. They were very polite and well prepared. Lots of fun and worthwhile!
I think it's a great idea to talk about bicycle safety too. In fact, that was always a concern of mine in my bike riding days. I want to know the answer too.
Here's another subject it wouldn't hurt to mention when you have time during your interaction with children. I said this at Langham. "Do you think it's a good idea to climb on the back of a big dog and ride him like a horse?" Of course, the kids all said "No."
I went on to say:" Dogs aren't strong enough to carry a person on their back, and you might hurt them or make them turn around and bite you! If you ever see a child trying to climb on a dog's back, tell them to STOP and you may save them from a dog bite."
I hated to use the word bite, but it's the truth. And I have seen some seemingly (?) intelligent parents thinking this behavior was CUTE. I think we should spread the word that it's dangerous! OK, now I'm off my soap-box! Cathy