The English spaniel, along with two council animal control officers, visited year 5 pupils from Fairfield School yesterday to teach them how to be safe around dogs.
Daniel, owned by Dunedin City Council animal control officer Nicky Wallace, was used in an almost 40-minute presentation to show pupils how to approach dogs, how to interact with dogs socially, warning signs to look out for, and what to look for with a dog’s body language and how they were acting.
Animal control officer Janine Day said it was important to educate pupils early about how to act safely around dogs.
"Getting in at this young age is a fantastic opportunity, a lot of kids may not have dogs at home any more and may not really know how to behave.
"Most people bitten by dogs are children. Giving them that education hopefully will help that statistic — they can hopefully now go away and help their siblings or friends keep safe."
Ms Day and Ms Wallace explained to the pupils how dogs had their own personal space that should be respected, not to treat their pooches like toys, or ride them like a horse, and to try not startle a dog in case of a bad reaction.
Ms Wallace said most people were bitten by a dog they knew.
"Dogs can bite out of reaction as well, they could have been sleeping, eating their food, or someone just gave them a fright.
"Most dog bites happen in the home, and kids are more exposed to receiving a dog bite, that is just due to their size."
The class was the sixth group of children Daniel has helped teach.
The youngest group Daniel and his owner Ms Wallace had taught was of preschoolers who were gearing up to take on the Pineapple Track and wanted a dog-safety lesson before they headed off.
Daniel is not the only dog on the council’s dog handlers’ roster. There are four others rotated in, all of whom were owned by animal control staff.
Fairfield school year 5 pupil Devon Masina said the biggest takeaway she had from her lesson on dog safety was canines needed personal space, just like humans.
"I really liked seeing Daniel. He was really nice."
