A day in the life.... Meg's Diary!

Meg, our Education Dog in the South East, visits schools with Fiona R teaching young people all about being a Responsible Dog Owner, and about staying safe around dogs. Fiona tells us that Meg gets so excited every morning when she realises it's another school day, but we wanted to check ourselves what Meg thought of life as a dog with a job! So, we took a sneak peek at her diary... and we thought we'd share it with you too..... SHHHHHHHH... don't tell Meg!

 

Wow, it looks like Meg really does love her job, although we suspected that already!

If you are in the South East and would like to book a visit from Meg (and Fiona!) to your school, you can contact Fiona on 0872965883 or at fiona.ryan@dogstrust.ie .

 

If you would like to see if there's a Dogs Trust Education Officer in your area, book a workshop, or just find out more about the Education Team, you can do all this at www.learnwithdogstrust.ie. 

 

Staying Safe and Sound with Hounds Pt 1.

A few weeks ago with shared with you our WALT safety message of how to meet and greet a dog safely when he's with his owner.

W= Walk up calmly to the owner

A = Ask the owner if you can pet their dog

L = Let the dog sniff your safe hand

T = Touch the dog, where he likes to be rubbed

 

REMEMBER: If there's no owner with the dog, we should leave him alone.

 

Today we're continuing the safety theme and talking about a couple of times at home when we should leave our dogs in peace.

 

1: When a dog is eating or drinking.

We should never approach or try to rub our dogs when they're eating or drinking, after all, you wouldn't like it if you were having lunch and someone started petting you on the head would you?! You'd probably find that a little annoying, and dogs have feelings just like we do so they may find it annoying too!

Om nom nom nom nom - dinner is the best part of my day!- Meg

As well as that, your dog may think that you're actually going to take away his food and eat it! He has no idea that you don't eat dog food (we hope!) and so if your dog is having his dinner, or chowing down on a tasty treat, we should leave him alone, and wait for him to finish.

 

2: When a dog is in his bed.

A dog's bed, or sleeping area, is a little bit like our bedroom. We use our rooms when we need to go to sleep, and also sometimes when we just want some peace and quiet from the rest of the house. Dog's beds are similar. A dog may use his bed to sleep, or if he wants to have some 'me' time and feel safe and secure.

Jake is a BIG fan of his bed- and Fiona never disturbs him while he's snoozing!

So if a dog is in his bed, we should never approach the bed and disturb him. We certainly shouldn't poke and pull at him to get him out of bed, how would you feel if someone did that to you? Not too happy we're sure! We should also never get into a dog's bed/sleeping area with him, apart from the obvious- being covered in dog hair- a dog's bed is his safe place and he may not like you taking it over, just like you wouldn't like having someone invade your room and take it over! So if he's in his bed, we leave him alone.

If you want your pooch to get up, you can call him, squeak a toy, get some tasty treats or whistle! Then he can get up himself without you going near him.

 

 

Remember, the times we should leave dogs alone are:

When they're eating or drinking

When they're in their bed

and

When they're on their own without their owner

 

 

 

 



Tea, Tales and Tonnes of Fun!

Last Saturday the Education Team hosted 'Tea and Tales 2015' at Dogs Trust's Rehoming Centre in Finglas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With 6 speakers, over 30 kids and adults, games, a tour of the centre and lots of cake it was a busy afternoon! 

 

This year all of our speakers were from Dogs Trust, and included Katie the Training and Behaviour Advisor, Catherine the Canine Carer, Sam the Volunteer, Jenny the Vet Nurse, John a Canine Carer who spoke to us all about his time as a Dog Warden and Liadh the Education Officer.

 

 

The Education Team would like to say a big Thank You to all our speakers for taking time out of their very busy days to tell us about their jobs, and answer all the fantastic questions from the children!



Also a big Thank You to those of you who came along and made it such a fab day by having lots and lots (and lots!) of questions for our speakers, we hope that you all enjoyed yourselves!

 

You can keep up to date on future events by following Dogs Trust on Twitter and Facebook:

 

• https://www.facebook.com/dogstrustireland
• https://twitter.com/DogsTrust_IE

Chocs Away this Easter!

Easter is almost upon us and the house is full of chocolate! It’s hard to resist the temptation to give your doggy a little choccy treat. Please remember that human chocolate can be extremely harmful to your dog.

 

 

 

Many people are unaware that chocolate is poisonous to dogs.

• Chocolate makes dogs extremely sick and may even kill them.
• Chocolate contains a chemical called theobromine which is safe for humans but not safe for dogs.
• The darker the chocolate, the more poisonous it is for you doggy pal.
• As a rough guide, Dogs Trust estimates that 50g of plain chocolate could be enough to kill a small dog, such as a Yorkshire Terrier, while just 400g could be enough to kill an average size dog.

Other dangers:

• Risk of obesity
• Dangers of eating the foil wrapping

 

 So that everyone can have an egg-cellent Easter, remember these rules to keep your dog safe:

 

• Keep your "chocs away" in a safe place so your dog can't get to it.

• NEVER feed your dog chocolate that's meant for humans.

• If your Easter egg is missing and you think your dog may have stolen it, contact your vet straight away.

• Look out for any of the following symptoms; vomiting with blood, a sore tummy, extreme thirst, excitability, drooling, rapid heart rate and in severe cases, fits.

• If your dog is displaying any of these signs then take him immediately to your vet.

• The sooner your dog gets to a vet, the greater the chance of recovery from chocolate poisoning.

• If you want to treat your dog this Easter, stick to natural doggy snacks that are kinder to your canine.

  

Don't forget, raisins are also poisonous to dogs so if you're enjoying a yummy hot cross bun, make sure you resist the temptation to share it with your pooch!

 

 

 Happy Easter from the Education Team! xx

 

 

 

 

 

Tea and Tales 2015

Tea and Tales is back....

 

 

Last year the Dogs Trust Education Team held their very first 'Tea and Tales' event at the DogsTrust Rehoming Centre in Finglas.  This family-friendly event was attended by 41 parents and children, all eager to hear from some canine professionals about how they came to be working with dogs. 

Tea and Tales 2014

 

As it was such as success in 2014 we've decided to do it all again this year! Tea and Tales will run on Saturday the 11th April from 12-2pm once again in our Rehoming Centre. We'll have speakers from all manner of dog related careers who will be answering any questions you may have about their jobs. We'll also have some fun and games, you'll get a tour of the centre, and also get to safely meet one of our fantastic Education Dogs. To top it all off, we'll enjoy some tea and cake too!

 

This event is open to 7-13 year olds

Tickets are €6 for a single child

OR

€5 per child if more than one attending

No ticket required for accompanying adults.

 

Places are limited so click HERE to book!

See you there :)

 

 

 

 

 

Meet W.A.L.T.

One of the key messages that the Education Team share with the young people they visit is one of safety, and over the next couple of weeks we'll be blogging some of those safety messages.

 

This week is a video all about W.A.L.T - which reminds us of how to safely approach and meet a dog when they're with their owner, and what to do if the dog is by itself without an owner.
 

 

 

 

Remember the GOLDEN RULE:  You should always ask the owner if you can pet their dog.

(We also think it's nice to ask where their dog loves to be stroked - Meg loves head rubs!)

Only ask to meet a dog if he/she is with someone you know. Don't forget, we shouldn't talk to strangers, even if you'd like to say hello to their dog. :)

Jake's Canine Credentials

You may remember that last year we shared Meg's CV with you when she joined the Education Team. As our newest Education Dog, we thought that we should show you just why she got the job.

 

We thought that if you got to see Meg's CV,  it was only fair that you got to see Jake's too, so here is it! Jake is our Senior Education Dog, and covers Dublin and the East with Education Officer Fiona S. He's Top Dog around the Education Team, and we're sure that you'll agree he's very qualified for his job!

 

If you would like to see if Jake is available to visit your school, contact Fiona on 087136071 or Fiona.simpson@dogstrust.ie.

 

You can also find out who your local Education Officer is, and request a booking via our website www.learnwithdogstrust.ie or by contacting education@dogstrust.ie.