DOGS TRUST BELIEVES CHILDREN ARE THE FUTURE.

Children at the forefront of the fight for our furry friends.

Dogs Trust, currently featured on the ITV show ‘Dog Rescue’ not only cares for 16,000 stray or unwanted dogs a year, they’re also doing their bit in educating young people to ensure that there aren’t so many lost or stray dogs in the future.

At the forefront of this initiative are the charity’s Education Officers, such as Dogs Trust Harefield’s Natalie Dexter. Negotiating her way around London in the trademark yellow ‘dogmobile’, Natalie runs workshops encouraging young people to explore the problems caused by irresponsible dog ownership. Children also get to meet curriculum friendly canine, Belle. In addition to this, schools are encouraged to visit the ‘Education Barn’ at the centre and find out how a rehoming centre is run.

These visits are perhaps the most satisfying part of the job for Natalie. She comments: “Teaching children here at the rehoming centre really brings what we’re teaching to life, and shows kids the reality of the problems that keep occurring within our society. The children love meeting the dogs, and the dogs love meeting them.”

And as you would expect working with animals and children, Natalie has her fair share of funny stories to tell.  “I taught the children to always let a dog sniff your hand before you stroke it, so a little boy put his hand out towards my dog, Belle. I said to Belle ‘Go on, sniff his hand’ but the little boy thought I was talking to him and bent down to sniff her paw.”

But although the workshops are always fun for grown-ups, children and dogs alike, the intention behind them is serious. They are run in areas of the country where stray dogs are a real problem. It is hoped that by educating children now, they will grow up with a responsible attitude to dog ownership.

And in the areas of the country where Dogs Trust does not run an Educational Outreach programme, children and teachers can still access information on the dedicated website www.learnwithdogs.com, which contains everything from interactive games to lesson plans!

Dogs Trust is the UK’s largest dog welfare charity with 17 Rehoming Centres across the UK. Dogs Trust cares for over 16,000 stray and abandoned dogs every year.