International Dog Bite Prevention Challenge Get Involved!

Doggone Safe has announced the International Dog Bite Prevention Challenge for 2012. It challenges its presenters to visit schools and educate 50,000 children about dog safety in a single month. The Challenge is to celebrate Dog Bite Prevention Week (May 20-26, 2012). Non-profit Doggone Safe has more than 800 presenters in 17 countries, 11 Canadian provinces and 43 states in the USA.

Dog bites to children are considered to be a serious public health problem by public health agencies and veterinary medical associations worldwide. Statistics show that most bites are by the family dog or other dog known to the child. “Experts agree that public education has an important role to play in reducing dog bite risk to children, and the Be a Tree program is one of the ways Doggone Safe is contributing”, said Teresa Lewin, vice president and cofounder of Doggone Safe.

Doggone Safe administers the “Be a Tree” dog bite prevention program for school children. The program is delivered by Doggone Safe presenters, veterinary technicians, dog trainers, dog behaviorists, public health nurses, emergency medical services personnel, animal control officers, police officers, teachers and humane educators. Presenters use a teacher kit which contains large format photographs showing dog body language signs, games and activities. Program sponsors can purchase supplementary branded learning materials such as coloring books, paint sheets, a story book, a poster, stickers, bookmarks and fridge magnets. Over 700,000 children worldwide have experienced the Be a Tree presentation since 2004. Through the International Dog Bite Prevention Challenge, Doggone Safe aims to increase this by almost ten percent.

“I love ‘be a tree’ (and ‘be a rock’). Its the best of its kind. This information has to get out there”, said Jean Donaldson – Internationally recognized dog behavior expert, award-winning author and director of the Academy for Dog Trainers.

For more information about the Challenge, to become a sponsor, to book a presentation for your school or to register as a presenter please visit the Doggone Safe website at www.doggonesafe.com.


We Need Your Help!
Here are some ways you can help

Do a presentation. If you are a Be a Tree presenter, please join the Challenge! Talk to your local schools and organize one or more presentations. We have a letter to the principal and letter to the teacher that you can download, edit and use to explain the program.

Become a Be a Tree presenter. Click here for more information. The Be a Tree Teacher Kit Plus PowerFlashPoint Show are now on sale for $70 (thats $30 off!) from now until the end of May. 

            Buy from Canada

            Buy from the US

                      Buy from Elsewhere (note delivery can take up to 4 weeks)

Send out our press release. Download our press release and send it to you local media. If you are a presenter and have your own business, you can download and edit the press release template to help promote your business and get some media attention for yourself and Doggone Safe.

Blog about the Challenge. If you have a blog, please copy this blog post, use one of our prewritten articles or write your own article about the Challenge.

Share on Facebook and Tweet about the Challenge. Here is a link to our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/DoggoneSafe. Like our page and then share the post about the Challenge. 

Read More..

Tip of the Day Get Off Your Bike if Dog Chases You

Making it Worse?

We are asked this question quite frequently: What should I do if a dog chases me or my kids while we are riding our bikes? Most adults assume that if they have good speed they can outride a dog. A cyclist in our area was badly injured when dog ran down a farm lane barking at him. He sped up to try to get away from the dog, lost control on the gravel shoulder and fell off his bike. The dog sniffed him and walked away.

Avoid a Chase

Kids on bikes should never assume that they can ride faster than a dog can run, because most likely they cant. If confronted by a dog while riding a bike, the best thing to do is to stop and if there is time get off the bike so that the bike is between you and the dog.

The main motivation for the dog is the chase and when there is nothing to chase the dog will lose interest. If the dog does catch a moving cyclist this could result in serious injuries both from the fall and from the dog, whose natural instinct is to bite and shake prey that it has caught. It is best to defuse the situation by removing the dogs motivation to chase.

Some people have been told that they should get off the bike, but keep moving so as to keep the bike between them and the dog. This movement will just keep the dog interested longer. It is best to stand still even if the dog circles around the bike to investigate

Here is a video that shows the wrong thing to do if a dog chases you while you are riding a bike. Notice that when the cyclist moves the bike to try to keep the dog on the other side of it, this just makes the dog more interested in him. As soon as he stops moving the dog loses interest.

Here is a video that shows the right thing to do. Notice how much less interested the dog is when the cyclist stands still, compared to the previous video, when he kept moving around.

 

Read More..