Some animal shelters have professional humane educators on staff, people who prepare and present programs to children and in schools. They are specially trained and often certified in this field. Unfortunately, the ARL does not have the funds to hire such a specialist. We rely on teachers and the community to provide education to the kids. Sadly, this is falling short, especially in the summer months when kids are not in school.  What can parents do to help educate their children about animals in the summertime? I admire (and envy!) the Humane Society of Northeast Georgia. They have created a program for children called Pet P.A.L.S.  P.A.L.S. stands for Preparing Animals for Love and Shelter.  Over the weeklong camp, kids learn about pet responsibility, career paths that involve working with animals and how to train a new pet. I wish we could do this!  Read more about it in this article: Pet P.A.L.S. 

If we cannot offer children this kind of experience, what other things can we do? How many kids beg their parents for a pet – and promise that they will take care of it? The summer is a great opportunity to educate kids!  Many kids are bored and looking for something to do. Make a project out of educating the kids about pet care. Kids are so Internet savvy. Have them research their pet of choice and what it takes to care for it. Here are a few web sites:

Dog care

Cat care

Small pet care

How about a field trip to the ARL or another place where animals are kept? If you call us in advance to set up a time, the ARL would be thrilled to give you a tour of the facility and speak with your child about why pets end up in shelters, the importance of caring for a pet forever, and why adoption is preferred over buying pets. There are other places in the area within a short driving distance: the Elmwood Park Zoo in Norristown, Ryerss Farm for Aged Equines in Elverson,  ZooAmerica in Hershey, who would welcome visitors and answer questions.

Coach your child to create a proposal to his/her teacher for the new school year about what he/she learned over the summer about animals, and ask if the teacher would be willing to provide humane education to the class during the school year. Wouldn’t the teacher be impressed?!

Now that I look at these suggestions, you can do them anytime of the year! It’s up to all of us to help the animals. As the saying goes, “Education starts in the home.”  Yes, it takes effort to be a leader to the children, to ensure that they are positive role models for animal welfare. It’s our responsibility to groom the advocates of the future.

Creative breeders and puppy mills have created all kinds of combinations of dogs and marketed them to the public as “hypoallergenic,” that is, they do not create an allergic reaction in people who are allergic to dogs. Most of these dogs are Poodle-somethings:

Labrador Retriever and Poodle = Labradoodle

Golden Retriever and Poodle = Golden Doodle (although I can’t figure out how someone got this name; shouldn’t it be Goldoodle?)

Maltese and Poodle = Malti-poo

Yorkshire Terrier and Poodle = Yorki-poo

And so on.  You get the idea. But are these dogs truly hypoallergenic?

If anyone took genetics in high school, you’ll remember that when you combine genes from two individuals, you may get characteristics of one person or the other in the offspring. So when you combine a dog who sheds and has a great deal of dander (Labrador, for example) with a dog who does not shed and has very little dander (Poodle), there is no guarantee that the offspring will have the attributes of the Poodle.  There is an equal chance that the offspring will have the characteristics of the Lab.

The breeders of these so-called hypoallergenic dogs have been pulling the proverbial wool over the public’s eyes. They cannot be sure that the Labradoodle puppy they sold you will be hypoallergenic. It could have the attributes of the Labrador parent instead of the Poodle parent and not at all hypoallergenic.

And speaking of hypoallergenic, a recent study published by Science Daily shows that households with so-called hypoallergenic dogs do not have less allergens than households with dogs who are not hypoallergenic. In other words, dogs who are marketed as hypoallergenic are producing just as much dander as other dogs.

This is not to say that there are Poodle mixes who have the attributes of the Poodle and don’t shed or have dander. You may be one of the lucky ones if you have such a dog!

Marketing is a very powerful tool and the breeders of these dogs have done a remarkable job in fooling the public. Or maybe they didn’t study genetics!  This issue is just one of many reasons not to buy dogs from pet stores and puppy mills. The dogs may not be what you think.