In late October our school, Kiltiernan NS was visited by a Dogs Trust representative named Aoife. She taught us about safety around dogs and how to behave if we felt scared or threatened around them. For example the best way to approach a strange dog is to make a fist of your hand and approach the dog slowly.

She also explained what kind of work they do at Dogs Trust, which included training dogs, finding homes for them, matching them to potential owners and caring for them in general.

She gave us a worksheet where we had to match several dogs’ different personalities and needs to their potential owners. For example a young, energetic puppy might be matched to a family who could exercise him, or a bigger dog might go to a farm with lots of space. We all thought we had done a great job in our sample matches on just a few dogs. Aoife told us at Dogs Trust they have to do this with dozens of dogs.

Visit the dogs trust website at www.dogstrust.ie/

At the end of the day we proudly received certificates showing that we knew our stuff around dogs and we all said goodbye with a smile on our faces.

	Alastair 6th class