April 2019

In This Issue

• Introduction • We Are Special • Helping With Your Dog • Dogs' Den Storybook • Colouring Contest • Game – “Eye Detective”

Hi everybody

Welcome to the April edition of the Kid's Dog Guardian newsletter. For those of you who are new members, let us introduce ourselves. We are the Dog Guardian newsletter co-editors’ dogs - Tyler, Julie's pup, and Morgan, Jill's pup. We

Baby Tyler Grown Up, Wise Tyler

decided the Kid's newsletter needed articles written by us dogs. We want to give you guys our perspective of being responsible around us.

We Are Special by Tyler

Dogs are special. We come in all different sizes and shapes. There are many dog breeds. I am a Lab. My good friend Morgan is a Standard Poodle. We would like to tell you about different dog breeds. I will start off by talking about my breed. Like I said earlier, I am a Lab; my full breed name is Labrador Retriever. I am a very friendly and loyal dog. My breed comes in 3 different colours: black, yellow and chocolate. I totally agree with Wikipedia (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labrador_Retriever), saying that we are very smart, kind and outgoing. We make good therapy and service dogs. We learn fast and like to please people. I would describe myself as a social butterfly. I love everybody (especially people with treats), I am eager to help, and I am very good

at making sad people happy. I am a big dog - I weigh about 80 lbs. I am fairly tall, about 24 inches. My breed usually lives for a long time, between 10 and 14 years. Each dog year counts as 7 people years. I am 11, so if I was a person I would be 77 years old. Bet you don't know too many 77 year old grandmas and grandpas fetching balls and rough housing on the ground with you guys. See - dogs are special. 😊

Helping With Your Dog by Morgan

In the March newsletter we talked about how you can help take care of us. Isn't the chart in the Love Your Dog website great? (“Age Appropriate Dog Duties - What's Your Job?” http://www.loveyourdog.com/ages.html)

Last month we looked at how you can help if you are 4 years old. (http://www.loveyourdog.com/ages.html#age4). What's that you are saying? You are 5 years old, not 4. Wow, how time flies. It seems only yesterday that you were 4. Yep, as a 5 year old you can help more. Here is what the chart says on the website (http://www.loveyourdog.com/ages.html#age5):

In the September 2018 newsletter we talked about how much we like to go for walks. We explained the 2 leash method: you hold the shorter leash and your parent holds the longer one.

Yeepeee! You are taking us for walks. We love walks, as long as an adult comes with us. You can use the 2-leash method: you hold the shorter leash, and your parent holds the longer one.

A special note for parents from the Love Your Dog website http://www.loveyourdog.com/ages.html#parentsfirst

“As parents, you know that some kids are more independent and mature than others. Use your own judgment to decide if the activities on this page are appropriate for your child's maturity level. Pay close attention to your dog. Children may not complete their chores, and the dog will need assistance.

The age level activities on this page are only guidelines. Always supervise young children when they're with the family dog.”

Dogs' Den storybook by Morgan and Tyler

We have learned a lot during the last few months. We talked about how much we love to play with you guys, but do not like being teased or chased. We also

reminded you that it is important for us to go to the vet for regular checkups. We pointed out that most of us are very friendly and eager to meet you, but please ask our owners before petting us. Remember, it is important not to run up to us. We know you are eager to meet us, but some of us are nervous and may bark or growl.

We love to go to dog training classes. We are very eager to learn. Please don't pull our ears and tails. It hurts, and we don't like it. After all, how would you like it if we pulled your ears? Not very nice! The best way to help us when we get hurt is to call an adult. They will know how to help us. When one of us you don't know runs up to you, stand very still like a tree. One of the ways to be safe is not to reach through the fence to pet us. We really like it when you are calm around us. Some of us get frightened when you jump or scream.

Our message for this month is that we wag our tails for many reasons. Sometimes we are happy, but other times we wag our tails because we are afraid or scared. In the picture below our smiley pup asks us not to go up to a dog you don't know, even if he wags his tail.

Colouring Contest by Tyler

Let's see how good your memory is. I hope it's better than mine. Remember way back in February? I know that was a long time ago. Oh, you do remember this advice in the Dogs' Den storybook section: “Meet our friend the happy dog. Look at his tail wagging with such great speed. His message is that one of the ways to be safe is not to reach through the fence to pet us, and he explains why.” Wow your memory is so much better than mine!

Well, page 9 in “The Fido, Friend or Foe?” Activity booklet http://www.responsibledogowners.ca/studies.html gives you the same advice. It explains that “Dogs are very protective of their home and property. They may see you as a threat and may bite your hand to protect their property.”

Colour the picture of the happy dog enjoying his privacy in the picture below. Scan or take a photo of the picture you coloured, and send it to us at morejulie@hotmail.com with your email address.

Game by Morgan

We like to call this game the “Eye Detective” game. Let's see how many differences your sharp eyes can spot between the two pictures. The answers are at the end of the newsletter.

Thank you

A big thank you goes to our committee for proofreading this newsletter. We really appreciate your help. You are the greatest. A special thank you to Kit Watson for the final proofreading of the newsletter.

Tyler and Morgan

Answers to the “Eye Detective” game

There are 8 differences between the 2 pictures. In the picture of the puppy on the right -

1. a leaf is missing near puppy's tail

2. puppy has an extra eye!

3. one of the flowers has no centre

4. the words above and below the picture are missing

5. puppy only has 3 feet

6. a flower by the puppy’s front paw is missing

7. poor puppy has no nose

8. puppy has no marks on his cheeks (whiskers)