Hundreds of children set to learn how to stay safe around dogs during ‘Be Dog Smart’ week

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

 The charity’s Education and Community Officer for Lothian will be visiting schools across the region reaching around 200 children over the course of the week, to ensure they understand how to behave around dogs, particularly in the home. So far this year Education and Community Officer Rachel Bliss has held 18 workshops in primary schools  Lothian, reaching 5485 pupils.

A survey* of parents revealed that just under 40% of children in Scotland come into contact with a dog every single day and two thirds of these dogs belong to their family or a close relative. More than 60% of busy parents in Scotland admitted they have never taught their child to behave around dogs, but around 15% 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.

Rachel Bliss, Education and Community Officer for Lothian 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.

“Whilst 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.”

Dogs Trust’s team of 26 education officers have delivered 10,647 Be Dog Smart workshops to 300,000 children across the country since it began. 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

** Survey conducted of 2,000 parents in February 2015 by One Poll on behalf of Dogs Trust.