Cabana the Canine Educator

Our shelter has a wonderful Humane Education program, where human/canine teams are invited to local schools to provide animal-related lessons to students ranging from Kindergarten to 8th grade. I had Cabana take the Canine Good Citizen test last year so that she would be eligible to participate. There are a total of 10 different lessons, geared for various age groups, which teach kids about caring for and respecting animals, and how they contribute to our lives and to society.

The first lesson we participated in was a lesson called Best Friends, which teaches young students about how to safely greet a dog and how to help care for their pets.

Because younger students can sometimes be afraid of bigger dogs (although I consider Cabana rather medium-sized myself), we did the lesson with another team that included Bubbles, the cutest little tiny pug I've ever seen. The kids got to choose whether to brush Cabana or Bubbles. I was happy to see that the class ended up pretty equally divided in their selection. Cabana may be 5 times the size of Bubbles, but I don't think many kids could stay scared of her.

We did the same lesson a few weeks later for a Kindergarten class. There were a couple students that admitted to being scared of dogs in general. The teacher asked those children if they would be willing to sit near Cabana and Bubbles. Within a few minutes, the little boy sitting by Cabana became much more comfortable and even petted her throughout the lesson.

The director of the program asked me to design a dog safety poster, using the acrostic "L.A.S.T", which stands for Look, Ask, Show, Touch. I had my younger daughter to sketch a picture of a child looking at a dog and his owner. I scanned the picture and manipulated it in Illustrator to make this poster.

The last lesson we did was probably my favorite. It was called "Science in the Real World: Solving a Veterinary Mystery" and was presented to a 6th grade class by an actual veterinarian. He pretended to examine Cabana and gave the students clues about her "illness". He would ask me questions, and I would answer according to a script I had been given earlier. The students were also allowed to ask questions, and their job was to use their deductive reasoning skills to figure out which of four possible illnesses Cabana had.

The correct answer was heartworm! Blechh, thank goodness it wasn't real! I'm looking forward to future participation in the coming school year.

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Disaster Preparedness

Although Cabana is wearing an e-collar, a muzzle, and a bandage, don't worry! She isn't hurt or in any trouble. We have been volunteering with our shelter's humane education program, where we go to elementary schools and teach about animal-related topics. This week, we helped with a session about disaster preparedness.

We've never had to evacuate our home, but we do live in earthquake country, so a potential evacuation is not out of the question. I have family in the New Orleans area, and they have to evacuate their home on a fairly regular basis. After Katrina, they were displaced from their home for over six months. Hopefully, we won't ever have to leave our home for that long, but it's good to be prepared for at least a short evacuation.

For the class, Cabana demonstrated some of the items in a pet's first aid kit. I don't think Cabana would ever need a muzzle, but some dogs may respond aggressively if they are hurt and would need a muzzle while their wound was being attended to. Cabana tolerated the muzzle very well with some practice and a small piece of sourdough bread or other rare treat as soon as the muzzle was removed. I knew Cabana would hate the big plastic e-collars, so I got her this soft inflatable Kong brand of e-collar. It's kind of pricey, but I feel prepared, knowing that if we should ever need it, Cabana won't mind wearing it. The stretchy bandage is easy to use because it sticks to itself and can be used over and over.

Do you have an Evac-Pack for you and your animals in case disaster strikes your area? Here is a list of items to get you started.

Begin by labeling a large tote or garbage bag with your pet's name, and include these items:
- A carrier or crate, large enough to comfortably contain your pet and provide a safe haven during an emergency.
- Collar, ID tags, animal license.
- Harness or leash.
- Bathroom supplies (litter and box for cats, poop bags for dogs).
- Medications for your pet, along with instructions for them.
- Medical records and name/address of your vet, stored in a plastic bag for safety.
- Current photo, in case you and your pets become separated.
- Food and water for at least 3 days in non-spill containers.
- Feeding instructions, stored in plastic bag.
- Toys and treats to help make your pet comfortable and reduce stress.
- First aid kit (which includes the items Cabana is modeling, as well as gauze, milk of magnesia for poisoning, digital thermometer, eye dropper or syringe).
- Towels or blankets to use as stretcher or to stabilize an injured animal.
- Anything else you would add?

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