THERAPY DOG SHARES PET CARE TIPS WITH THE BROWNIES

Icy and I were thrilled to be invited to a Brownie (pre-Girl Scout) meeting at a local Elementary School!  They wanted us to talk with the girls, who were around 8 years old, about Animal Care and Pet Therapy to help them get their Animal Care Badges.  Isn't that great!?  I love that the Girl Scouts and Brownies are placing a focus on animal care.  They also wanted the girls to have some fun interaction with Icy and a few other therapy dogs.

Therapy Dog Icy Shares Pet Care Tips With A Brownie Troop

I don't have kids myself, other than the 4 legged kind of course, so it was really interesting for me to be at one of their meetings.  I was a Brownie as a kid too, but I don't remember much about it.  I remember my little brown outfit, and I recall sitting in a big circle, making a pillow large enough to sit on.  I remember that it was a fun project and that my pillow was red!  

Icy shows off her Therapy Dog vest from the Bideawee animal shelter

When the meeting started, the girls all got up and said the Pledge of Allegiance.  I can't even remember the last time I said the Pledge of Allegiance, I'm surprised I remembered the words to it!

Pet Care Tips To Share With Kids

After that the girls recited their Girl Scout Promise and then the Girl Scout Law.  These are good pledges, I like that they have a section about being considerate and caring, as well as respectful.  Those words were a great segue into talking about how Therapy Dogs can be caring and considerate by helping people.  

Being respectful was a good segue into talking about how to approach a strange dog; the importance of politely asking the dog's owner if it's ok to pet their dog, and being respectful if they say No. If they ask you not to pet their dog, there's probably a very good reason. The dog may be fearful, aggressive, shy, or not feeling well.

When we talked about the importance of always asking before you pet a strange dog, I mentioned that they should also have an adult with them when they approach any stranger, even one with a cute puppy or dog!  Kids should always have an adult present when they approach a dog, or any stranger for that matter. We shared that when kids are loud or make squealing sounds it can frighten a dog.  

One of my favorite parts about visiting children is the questions they ask.  This group of 8 year olds was so engaging!  They had tons of comments and questions.  I love that they were SO interested in Icy and our visit, and in learning more about pet care and therapy dogs.  Here are some of the questions that were on these adorable Brownies' minds:

🐶 How old is Icy? (I get this one a lot)

🐶 How furry does she get - the girl who asked this wanted to know exactly how furry Icy could get, LOL!

🐶 What if you find a dog and you can't find the owner, (no collar and tags), what happens to the dog? 

🐶 What if someone finds my dog but doesn't try to find us, what happens then?  I got this question from a few of the girls, they seemed very concerned about their pet getting lost and not being returned. 

🐶 What if someone finds your dog and wants to keep it?

🐶 The girls made lots of comments about how they have found a neighbors dog and returned the pet.  And comments about their own dogs escaping the yard or running out the door and being found by a neighbor.

🐶 When I asked them what are some of the ways we can keep our dogs safe, they had great answers!  They talked about a collar with tags and keeping the yard locked.  When I mentioned microchipping your pet, many of the girls didn't know what that was and had some questions about it.  I explained what a microchip was how it works. I related it a bit like using a TV remote, and that analogy seemed to help. I talked about how small it was and compared a dog getting one to a child getting vaccinated. It's quick and pretty painless!

🐶 They wanted to know exactly where a microchip would be on a dog, and of course they wanted to know where Icy's chip was on her. I showed them that Icy's chip is between her shoulder blades, which is the usual location. 

🐶 They asked who and how people who find a dog would know to look for a microchip.  I explained that most Veterinarians and animal shelters have a scanner.  I told them that animal shelters will ALWAYS scan for a microchip if pets that come into the shelter don't have updated tags. We also talked about keeping dogs safe when you take them out for the day or when traveling. 

🐶 I asked them how they could tell if a dog isn't friendly?  Some of the answers surprised me.  Some said the dog will Bark.  Some said an unfriendly dog will jump on you. Some said a dog that seems like he can't stay still is unfriendly.  This turned into a rather lively conversation!  

I explained some body language signals such as a dog's tail being between his legs means he is frightened, and a frightened dog can act in an unfriendly way just because he's scared.  We talked about growling, stiff body language, and baring teeth being a possible indication of an unfriendly dog.  I told them that a very "Wiggly Jiggly" body and tail wag usually means "I'm Friendly"! 

They had so many great questions and comments, I really loved their enthusiasm and engagement!

At the end of the meeting, several of the girls proudly showed off the beautiful Animal Care badges they earned by meeting Icy.  The patch had a lovely embroidery of a Golden Retriever Service Dog on it. It was so cute I would have loved one for myself, LOL!  What a fun visit!

Very well done, Brownies!!  Congratulations on earning your Animal Care badges!  

Sorry Icy, I know YOU did all the work but those Girl Scout cookies up on the counter are for MOMMY!

Just before leaving, the troop leader gave me two boxes of Girl Scout Cookies!  I was so thrilled and touched by her kind gesture.  We always get a hearty Thank You after visits, but we've never gotten a gift of delicious cookies before.  Thin Mints and Trefoils, YUMMY!! I'd better grab some before the husband eats them all!

A big Thank You to this wonderful troop of Brownies and to Bideawee Animal Shelter, who made our Therapy Dog visit possible!

Bideawee, which means "Stay Awhile in Scottish, is one of the oldest animal shelters in America!

What's your favorite Girl Scout cookie? Mine are Samoas and Thin Mints.  Tell us yours in the comments!!

GIRL SCOUTS LEARN ABOUT PET CARE AND THERAPY DOGS

Teaching kids how to properly care for and be kind to animals is important, not just for the animals but for the children themselves. Sure we want our children to grow up to be nice people, but there's an even bigger reason. 

It's important to teach kids about being kind to animals

There is a strong link between mistreating animals and violence against people.  Teaching kids how to properly care for pets and be kind to animals helps build compassion and empathy.

Recently, a fellow Therapy Dog handler and I were asked to speak to a local Girl Scout troop about how to properly care for pets and about how Therapy Dogs help people.  The girls were about 10 years old.



We talked to the girls about how Therapy Dogs help kids improve reading skills

I always find it interesting to hear the questions the kids come up with.  I must admit, whenever I talk with kids about dogs they come up with at least one question that throws me for a loop!  I thought I'd share some of the questions the girls asked us in our meeting with them, and the one question I had a hard time answering!

** "Does your dog help blind people cross the street?"  We said no and explained the difference between a Service Dog and a Therapy Dog.   I told them about the volunteer work Icy and I do as a Therapy Dog team like   Children Reading to Dogs   and   College Stress Busters.

** There were lots of questions about how they can convince their parents to let them have a dog!  It sparked some really fun conversation when we asked them to think about what they thought was stopping their parents from saying Yes to a dog.  Apparently, none of them want to clean up a dog's poop, which I'm guessing is a key reason for their parents' reluctance!  We explained why it's important to clean up after your dog.

** "How do you know if a dog is sick?" and "What do you do when a dog gets sick?"  We asked them how their mom knows they are sick, other than telling her so, and explained that a sick dog has many of the same signs as a sick kid; vomiting, diarrhea, or not wanting to get up and play.  We discussed the importance of taking your dog to the Vet quickly if he looks sick.

** I was talking about the responsibilities of owning a dog and got around to discussing that a shelter or rescue is a great place to get a dog because it saves a life.  I talked about puppy mills, how they are hurtful to animals, and why people want to Adopt not Shop.  Suddenly, one of the girls raised her hand and asked "Is (she named a specific puppy store in our town) a puppy mill??  I wasn't prepared for a question like that, I really had to think about the appropriate way to respond! 

I explained the difference between a puppy mill breeder and a puppy store, and that many people believe puppy stores sell a lot of mill puppies.  I didn't want to make any kind of accusatory statement about the specific puppy store, that wouldn't be right and could land me in a world of hurt!  



The Bideawee animal shelter invited us to speak with a local Girl Scout troop about Therapy Dog work and responsible pet care 

I told the girls I couldn't say whether or not a specific puppy store bought their puppies from puppy mills but that many of them do.  That's why it's a great idea to get a puppy or dog from a shelter or rescue and save a life.  The girls seemed to understand and agree with that. Whew!



We talked to the kids about how Adopting vs. Shopping can save a shelter pet's life!

It was a lot of fun talking with the Girl Scouts about responsibly caring for pets and how Therapy Dogs can help people.  Talking with kids like this is a great way to lay the foundation for kindness to animals, the proper way to care for pets, and the beauty of the human-animal bond.

NOTE: We were not permitted to take photos of the children for privacy reasons.

Have you ever talked with a group of kids about animals?  What points would you stress when talking with kids about caring for animals?  Please leave us a comment & share, we love when you bark back!