OUR OBJECTIVES
The use of animals especially dogs in therapy for mentally or physically challenged or senior patients is a scientifically recognised, provably effective method. The corresponding literature discusses the beneficial effects on people, especially on children, however, there are very few methods that use animals in activities for healthy children in a complex and systematic way for educational and pedagogic purposes.
During teaching classes the basics of animal treatment and handling as well as the required attitude towards animal keeping can be acquired. We are convinced that the right behavioral patterns toward animals and the promotion of animal welfare and protection is essentially a question of attitude. The required attitude has not evolved in Hungary so far. We think that changing the children’s mind on the topic will let them have the necessarry basics to establish the foundations of animal welfare in the future. For the present through the kids we might reach their parents and change their minds as well. Children’s openness, their instinctive affection towards animals, their straightforwardness is a guarantee for the process. Our long-term objective of the educational program is to participate in upbringing a generation that will evidently take responsibility for the animals kept in or near our homes and for those living in the wild, a generation that will have the necessarry information and insight and act accordingly.
Our objective is to elaborate and apply a new, complex pedagogical method by using specially trained dogs for motivation in education that makes teaching classes more interesting and vivacious, by which kids become more motivated, interested, empathic and cooperating. Subjects commonly regarded as difficult and sometimes a little bit dull such as mathematics or grammar can be enlivened; the diversity of exercises with dogs depends on the teachers’creative minds.
One of our goals is to prove the effects of the program by scientific methods of psychology and pedagogy and this way to widen the spectrum of trade literature on the topic. We hope that the scientific evidence will make the educational sector accept our method and thus more and more institutions will open their gates and enable the participation of specially trained dogs in certain teaching classes, which will contribute to the education and animal protection of the 21 th century.
