Canine Kids: Is Their Playground Safe
Volume 2 Issue 1
April 1, 2008
Author: Stella J. Raasch
Trust is a quality that every human being innately desires to establish with people whom they come into contact with. People also want to be able to trust that the information they read or hear about in the media is true. People can either choose to blindly trust or they can choose to trust only when those sources have proven to be trustworthy. Further, some will establish a level of trust again, shortly after the trust was broken, while others will test that trust for an unspecified duration of time. But, trust can only go so far with our canine kids, as it is critical we remember that they are still animals, and we can never trust them to make responsible choices for themselves; they rely upon their caretakers to make those for them.When children are young, from birth through roughly ten years of age, caring parents go to extreme lengths to ensure their safety while playing outside in the yard. Parents and educators alike, also go to great lengths to teach young, vulnerable children about why it is important to refrain from playing in the road, how to safely cross the road, how to react when approached by strangers, what to do in the case of an emergency, what to do if they get lost, and emphasize the importance of always having adult supervision while outside. However, it is often the case where people do not take the same safety precautions with their vulnerable canine kids, by allowing them to play outside in an unfenced yard, to roam around in the neighbor's yards, and worse yet, leaving them outside unattended for long periods of time.
Our canine kids require even more stringent rules and supervision than human kids, so we have to be proactive in ensuring their safety, inside and outside of the home...