Uses peer-led learning to help groups of pupils to prepare and deliver an assembly, workshop or display to help others learn about the work of Dogs Trust, and the importance of responsible dog ownership.

In these activities, pupils will practice their adding, subtraction and multiplication of numbers, and analyse data to find the answers while exploring the costs involved in owning a dog. This is a maths-based activity, but can also be used as part of a PSHE or Citizenship topic about rights and responsibilities and as a follow-up activity after a visit from one of our Education Officers.

Learning how to be responsible is part of growing up. Many families get a dog without fully understanding and appreciating the responsibility that comes with it. Pupils are encouraged to test their knowledge, explore, discuss and form opinions, as they develop an understanding of what it means to be a responsible dog owner, and an awareness of the commitment involved in owning a dog. This is a quiz-based activity to test and expand pupils’ existing knowledge. It can be used as part of a PSHE or Citizenship topic about rights and responsibilities and as a follow-up activity after a visit from one of our Education and Community Officers.

Getting a puppy is a big commitment, and it’s important that children and their families fully understand what is involved in owning a dog before getting one. Pupils read the story ‘ A New Puppy’, which explores Jenny and her mum’s experience of getting a puppy and then answer ten questions about the story. The activity practices pupils’ reading comprehension skills with a focus on retrieving information, as well as developing their awareness and understanding of what is involved in owning a dog.

In these activities, pupils practise their data analysis and Venn diagram skills as they investigate what is safe for dogs to eat and how much different dogs should eat to be happy and healthy. This is a maths-based activity, but can also be used as part of a PSHE or Citizenship topic about health and wellbeing, and as a follow-up activity after a visit from one of our Education and Community Officers.

This activity can be used as part of a Science topic about selective breeding within ‘animals’ and ‘evolution’. It could also be linked to a PSHE/Citizenship activity exploring rights and responsibilities. It explores the differences between four dog breeds in the past and the same breeds as we know them today and encourages pupils to consider whether selective breeding is always a good thing.

This resource comprises a range of activities to explore the role of dogs in the military and encourages pupils to develop their historical enquiry skills. Part 1 – Military dogs and their jobs in World War I and World War II In the first task, pupils explore four different jobs dogs had during the world wars, why they were chosen for these jobs, and whether we should have expected them to do these jobs. In the second task, pupils are asked to respond to the government’s war office request to lend their family dog to the British Army, by writing a letter to Dog World magazine. Part 2 – How do the military meet a dog’s welfare needs? In this activity, pupils explore the five welfare needs and how the military make sure that military dogs’ needs are met. In the first task, pupils sort statements into their correct welfare need, and in the second task use source information to identify how the military look after their dogs in a training facility in Jordan. The third task gives pupils the opportunity to discuss how the military meets the needs of its dogs, whether things could be improved and how the welfare needs relate to pet dogs. Part 3 – ‘Working Dogs’ post-workshop activities The activities in this section are for use after your class has participated in a Working Dogs workshop with one of our Education and Community Officers. You can book your workshop at www.learnwithdogstrust.org.uk

Be Dog Smart is our primary school programme that focusses on two key themes – safe behaviour around dogs, and responsible dog ownership. The Spot the Problem story is designed to encourage children to consider and adapt how they behave around dogs to keep both themselves and dogs safe.