Kids see any dog as a friend, and it's a problem

Children tend to see dogs as their friends, which can be dangerous, a dog education officer has warned.

Lisa Ross was recently appointed by the Far North District Council as its first dedicated dog education and liaison officer, following ongoing problems with roaming dogs and attacks in the region and a crackdown this year on unregistered owners.

Speaking to RNZ's Morning Report, Ross said her first lesson for children in every classroom is that a strange dog does not know you.

"Children see movie dogs, which are all their friends. They see their pet dogs, which are all their friends," she explained. "But a strange dog, I'm trying to get across to them, is a stranger danger dog. It's not your friend," she said.

"A strange dog does not know you. It doesn't trust you. You're not his friend. And the same with them. To understand that, is the critical thing to get across to children because they do."

She wants children to learn to "leave it alone. Call an adult".

"I'm asking all the students to please call an adult, get an adult to call Animal Management and then the people who have the skills will come along."

She says the Animal Management team are "amazing" - "they will pick up the dog and hopefully the dog is registered and we can find its home".

"We do not want dogs roaming on streets. They can cause car crashes, they also tear up the rubbish.

"I've asked all the students: who stood in dog poop? Everybody. It's not good."

Ross says she's been asked a lot of questions from children during her school visits across the region, some have been slightly off -topic.

"At the beautiful Kukunui School, I did get asked how puppies are made.

"I tell them that they go on a date, they know each other, they go out for dinner, and then the mummy dog comes home to its owner and says: 'We're going to need a bigger kennel'," Ross said.

"Then we do talk, depending on the age of the students... about de-sexing and how the SPCA are doing a wonderful job."

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