To think learning how to behave around dogs should be part of the national curriculum

[Itsadogsworld]

I think schools should teach children how to behave around dogs, canine body language and so on. I think it would significantly reduce the number of children that end up in A&E each year due to dogs bites. I’ve seen some dreadful behaviour in my local park where children will run up to my dog and one child was continually trying to bear hug her own dog. Children clearly aren’t being taught this at home so I think they should include it in schools. I welcome your thoughts on this.

What would you drop from the National Curriculum in order to accommodate this intervention @Itsadogsworld?

Have teachers not got enough to do?
This surely isn't a curriculum responsibility rather a parental and DOGS OWNERS' responsibility 😲

@WiddlinDiddlin

It is all very well saying 'parents should teach their children about xyz'... but parents clearly are NOT doing so.

This generation of people owning dogs that are a fucking liability are parents, they were children in MY generation and we were not taught this, how do THEY teach to their children that which they not only do NOT know.. but do not even realise they NEED to know?

We've got parents who can't teach their kids how to cook, manage basic finances, read... how are they going to teach a specialist subject like responsible pet ownership and dog behaviour?

This is exactly why there just isn't time in the curriculum to teach about dogs.

I would much rather schools focused on ensuring kids leave school being able to read and do maths.

There are lots of issues within education however the lack of teaching kids about dogs isn't one of them.

There are lots of issues within education however the lack of teaching kids about dogs isn't one of them.

This x 100.

There are a lot of feckless people out there who shouldn’t own dogs (or probably even have children). It’s not up to schools to try to bridge that gap.

They could bring back the old public information films there used to be for things like this

Keeping pet dogs is utterly unnecessary. This would be a complete waste of school time.

Don't victim blame the children who suffer dog bites by implying they could have been educated to avoid this happening. It's the fault of the dogs/dog owners.

You can reduce the number of dog bites by restricting the number of people allowed to keep dogs.

@VincaMinor

They could bring back the old public information films there used to be for things like this

I can honestly imagine some of the parents at my school complaining if that happened that the school was traumatising their child and giving them nightmares. I can think of several that would go to the papers about the trauma and would probably try to withdraw them from the lesson!

@mumof2oneofeach

My dog loves a bear hug!

Your dog is a rarity with regards to that.

@rrhuth Ofcourse not. Never said it was.

@Cyberworrier Sounds good

@VestaTilley No such thing as a dangerous breed.

Most dog bites happen in the home with a dog known to the child. It doesn’t matter how well trained a dog is, it is liable to snap if a child continually bothers it. It’s not like I’m saying schools should teach this so I don’t have to bother training my dog, obviously dogs should be trained but no amount of training will prevent a bite if the child continues to attempt to ride on dogs back for example. Dogs teach sex education, cooking, ect so why not just dedicate an afternoon to this. That’s my thinking on it. Sorry I want to prevent dog bites 🤷🏼‍♀️

Dogs teach sex education, cooking, ect

Do they now?!

And folks saying it’s the dog owners responsibility, I can’t stop and lecture every child that I see behaving inappropriately around a dog. I’m an adult, I can’t go round approaching other people’s child. How is it my responsibility as a dog owner to teach children how to behave when they run up to my on lead pup? I don’t get it.

It doesn’t matter how well trained a dog is, it is liable to snap if a child continually bothers it.

Why is precisely why the keeping of pet dogs should be discouraged, on a societal level.

I've taught my daughter everything about "dog behaviour" that she needs to know, i.e that they are stupid, grossly unhygienic, potentially dangerous animals and she is not to approach one she doesn't know, what to do if one approaches her and is not swiftly recalled by its owner (as it should be), and that we will have one in our house over my dead body. She irritatingly still seems to quite like them 😆 but knows to behave defensively with strange dogs (and their frequently strange owners). But "dog body language"? Eating into school time no less? Get stuffed. Why should she waste her brain on learning the ways of bloody dogs when by rights she should never be within touching distance of one? It is the job of the owners to keep their dogs under control and away from my child, not her job to behave in such a way as to avoid being mauled.

And I'm sorry a bloody "school dog"? What's that, code for "head teacher too tight to pay for a dog walker/too sentimental to part from little Fido when supposed to be doing their job and trying to frame this needless distraction as a learning experience for the kids"? If I got a sniff of anything like that in my kid's school I would boot off like the World Cup, and I am actually not one of Those Parents by and large. People's kids should not be exposed to potentially dangerous animals at school without express parental consent.

@VestaTilley No such thing as a dangerous breed.

The law would beg to differ with you, if you are in the UK.

Because teachers really don’t have enough to do.

I welcome your thoughts on this

The poll results are pretty revealing/informative.

First aid, how to call triple zero, learn mum and dad's phone number - in primary - great.

How to do a tax return, formal first aid, defensive driving - in secondary - great.

Dogs. Erm, no. Teacher's can just about get through their day as is.

Dogs is dogs. Humans is humans.

If you truly, truly want to prevent dog bites, the single biggest way to do that is to widely widely discourage dog ownership, including not owning one yourself.

@DeepaBeesKit

It doesn’t matter how well trained a dog is, it is liable to snap if a child continually bothers it.

Why is precisely why the keeping of pet dogs should be discouraged, on a societal level.

Why??? Surely by that logic we should be avoiding keeping children who are the ones doing the bothering.

What a daft idea. Doesn't anyone have common sense these days? Firstly, dog owners should be responsible for their animals, which should be on leads whenever out in public, and kept away from playing children. Secondly parents should teach their children not to approach strange dogs. Job done.

I think dog owners should be sent on courses when acquiring a new dog in order to learn how to control their dogs around children. The amount of dogs I have seen jumping up at or trying to get involved in children’s games in the park uninvited is beyond belief. The owners are either too far to intervene or stroll past shouting out ‘he’s friendly!’

@Patapouf

Hilarious!

It's not a child's responsibility to behave a certain way around a dog. It's the dog owners responsibility to keep everyone safe by training their mutt.

I'd sooner ban all dog ownership than add to the burden on teachers to deliver the existing national curriculum.

A few weeks ago a girl of 7/8ish ran up to our dog from behind and proceeded to cuddle him, she completely ignored me when I told her to get off and she didn’t appear to be with any adults at the park, or if she was they weren’t supervising.

In the end we had to shout quite loudly and she eventually let him go.

How do I teach my dog to prevent a random stranger running up behind us and touching him? Should I walk around wearing those special glasses that allow you to see behind you?

@Howshouldibehave

Dogs teach sex education, cooking, ect

Do they now?!

😂 I can’t stop laughing at this…

Look you are being unreasonable but I'm not concerned about children who bother an annoy dogs getting bitten. It's their parents responsibility to ensure the child is looked after and if they don't have enough time to keep dog and children apart then perhaps they shouldn't have one or the other.

Why is it the schools responsibility to teach everything to children? When will other adults who have a larger and more personal duty of care to children start taking responsibility?
Dogs needs to be trained and children need to be taught but all teaching does not have to be the schools job.
If as a dog owner you see children running up to your dog then you need to speak up and warn them to stop.of course that's the parents job but if your dog was to injure a child you'd be classed responsible so you need to speak up!

@Glinsk

Seriously? It's the child's fault if a dog bites it.

Yes sometimes it really is.

My terrier was standing quietly at my feet in a large crowd when he was grabbed from behind by a small child who wanted to cuddle him.

Luckily for her he is a lovely tempered dog and although he jumped and turned around quickly he didn't snap at her and allowed her to hug him. With a less well socialised and placid dog she could have been badly bitten before the owner had time to react.