Secure Checkout
A school isn’t the natural habitat of the domestic dog but today the children of Class 1 and 2 met the charismatic (if not a little lazy) dog that is Ifor the Lurcher, my own rescue dog.
Ifor is a 30mph couch potato. His hobbies include chasing things, eating and sleeping. Oh, and he particularly loves helping to educate children. Now not all dogs will have what it takes to teach our young generation but for Ifor it is the perfect job. He loves children and will happily be adored for any length of time, breaking his busy schedule of looking handsome long enough to perform a few tricks for his captive audience.
When we arrived at Llangadog school it was obvious that the children were excited about their visitor, but this didn’t bother Ifor for a second and he settled in straight away. I love talking to children, they are so excited about learning and they couldn’t wait to get involved. When asked “have any of you got any pets?” there was an explosion of hands as the children fought for attention to tell us all about their own beloved pets. The children’s enthusiasm for animals was a joy to hear. We talked about some of their pets and what they do to help look after them, then talked about the other things that they should be doing to keep their dogs happy and healthy. This part was where Ifor became the star of the show as he helped to demonstrate some grooming techniques. Ifor was a bit disgruntled at having to show how to brush a dog’s teeth, but this soon passed as he went on to enjoy having a gentle groom by two of the class members. Being a supermodel is not all Ifor brought to the table, he is also a very talented performer and has a couple of tricks under his belt. Needless to say, he was in his element showing off some of his tricks to the children.
After the fun of the tricks we got down to the main topic, dog food. We talked to the children about what they feed their pets and about all the different types of food that you can get. Finally, we discussed being safe around dogs, the importance of asking the owner before saying hi and how to stay safe when saying hello.
Then it was time for Ifor’s favourite part of the day…fuss time! The children lined up ready to say hello to the main man himself and Ifor settled down for some love, even an unplanned cuddle didn’t faze this coolest of dogs.
Teaching children about my passion, dogs, is always a privilege and it is even better when I can share that with one of my own dogs. I am very proud of Ifor and what he helps me to achieve. He has come a long way from the skinny little puppy abandoned on the beach 5 years ago. I hope to be able to continue sharing these experiences with him for many more years.
My favourite part of the day? Being asked if I had a Giraffe. If only my house was tall enough!
