Have you been searching for an educational project designed to teach children and the teacher information regarding dog bite safety? The Children and Dogs: Educational Coloring Book and Teacher’s Guide may be what you have been looking for.

Our Project is designed with color art for children ages 5 –12. A teacher’s guide is part of the Project. To properly teach children about dog bite safety without teaching a fear of dogs, please read the Introduction and Teacher’s Guide before offering any color art to the children. To view and copy the complete Children and Dogs: Educational Coloring Book and Teacher’s Guide click here. You must have Acrobat to review and copy the materials from this Project.

Copyright ownership of the Children and Dogs: Educational Coloring Book and Teacher’s Guide belongs to “Copyright 2002 Marilyn Olson Neville and the Association for Community Education of Animal Behavior”. Please read the copyright rules, which are included in the color book Acrobat pages.

Would you like to know what inspired this Project’s creation, how it was developed and who created it?

You may be surprised when you discover what elements inspired the creation of The Association for Community Education of Animal Behavior (ACE of Animal Behavior), a nonprofit organization, and their bite prevention Project.

Take a few minutes and read the following story to learn what events stirred the “Ladies of ACE” to take action and how they finally made this needed Project available to teachers and the general public free of charge.

Maybe you too will be inspired to “make a difference” in your community.

Why the Need for the Color Book Project

How ACE of Animal Behavior and the Project Were Developed

Who Worked on the Bite Prevention Project?

Support ACE of Animal Behavior

On June 26, 2000, an American Staffordshire Terrier and an American Pit Bull Terrier jumped over a fence into a Hamburg, Germany schoolyard, and before the dogs could be controlled, Volkan Kaja, a six-year-old boy, was killed while other children watched. According to German correspondence, the dogs that committed the atrocity had been trained to attack by their owner, a registered criminal. Because of previous aggressive behaviors the animals were already under mandate to be muzzled and leashed while in public. An autopsy revealed that the dog that killed Volkan had not eaten in three days and drugs were found in his body. This hideous tragedy, perpetuated by a human criminal, could so easily have been avoided.

The above case would negatively affect dog owners and their dogs around the world causing breed bans, unfair restrictions and unfair finger pointing.

In January of 2001 two dogs attacked Diane Whipple in her San Francisco, California apartment building, ripping her body so badly that she died shortly after surgery. Two lawyers were the caretakers for the large breed dogs. The courts determined that the female caretaker was negligent and she was sentenced to prison time. The dog mauling case received unprecedented media coverage. Many pet and non-pet owners believed that the dog caretakers deserved harsher sentences for their carelessness and perceived callous attitudes. This case changed how dog ownership, and the management of dogs, would be viewed in the United States and even worldwide. (Read about the Diane Whipple case in the book Red Zone by Aphrodite Jones.)

On April 25, 2001, a 5-year-old boy in Jackson County Illinois was left to wander outside, unattended. He wandered to his neighbor’s yard where a dog was chained. Later when the boy was discovered missing, a neighbor found his lifeless body in the dog’s chained territory. The case was called a “death by accident”. Neighbors said the boy knew the dog.

In the summer of 2002, in Wickliffe, Kentucky, another 5-year-old boy child was left to wander unattended by his three adult relatives. The child’s relatives had just mowed their yard, throwing their grass clippings into the yard of the neighbor, who had three chained dogs. Then the dog owner offered the dogs their food bowls and left, by car, to pick up a mix to bake a cake. When she returned, she found that the area police had shot and wounded one of her dogs twice and that a boy-child had been critically mauled next to that dog’s food bowl. Dazed, she requested that they put that dog out of its suffering. Tragically, the boy soon died of his massive injuries. The dog’s 21- year-old owner would receive a two-year prison sentence, reduced from a proposed 6-year sentence by plea agreement. The courts never sentenced the three adult relatives who were caring for the child. However, reliable sources said their insurance companies paid several hundred thousand dollars in claims to the child’s mother.

In 2002 there were numerous websites that discussed safety issues between children and dogs. Although much of the information in those sites was varied, similar topics were consistent with the exception to an important issue: the posture a child should display when confronted by a stray dog. Also, most of the material was for adults. Few resources had educational tools for children to read and color. Even fewer had artwork or photos of dogs in realistic, threatening postures when distressed or acting territorial.

Much was said to “do this” and “don’t do that”, but the logic of why one should act, react or manage a dog in a certain way was lacking. Information about basic canine behavior was deficient.

Logically, it seemed, if humans understood why dogs do what they do, people would be better prepared to avoid conflicts with them.

Though serious confrontations between humans and dogs are somewhat rare, they likely will not be identical in nature. So, how do you teach someone to reason, and think logically about the subject, without being scared?

During the years, 2000 through 2002, the “Ladies of ACE”, Dr. Cynthia S. Sprigg, Marilyn Olson Neville and Danon Austin, were teaching dog obedience classes with a nonprofit dog club in the Cape Girardeau, Missouri area. Both the Illinois and Kentucky maulings happened only a little over an hour from Cape Girardeau. Those maulings especially touched these teachers because the area media brought the stories into their homes and hearts.

They saw a need to educate the community regarding dog behavior and pet owner responsibility, which was not possible in their present situation. So they left the club they were active in to form their own nonprofit organization called The Association for Community Education of Animal Behavior (ACE of Animal Behavior).

None of these women had any formal education in animal behavior with the exception of Cynthia S. Sprigg, DVM. However, they read a great deal about dog behavior by respected, certified animal behaviorists and dog trainers. They incorporated that knowledge in their obedience classes and with their own pets. They observed that those updated obedience methods, along with behavior education, allowed their students and their pets to learn faster and be happier.

Marilyn Olson Neville, an officer of ACE of Animal Behavior (ACE), had already done a great deal of research on the subject of children and dog bite prevention. The European dog-mauling event in the year 2000 had personally touched her and her breed of choice by placing her breed on a lengthy ban list. By 2001, she had already drafted a bite prevention booklet and had authored a Tosa Times newsletter on the subject in the late summer of 2000.

Dr. Cynthia S. Sprigg, another officer of ACE, started to organize and offer mini seminars on dog bite prevention for young children that included well-mannered dogs. ACE officer Danon Austin, like Dr. Sprigg and Neville, discussed dog owner and community management and responsibilities in the obedience classes she taught or assisted in.

As a group, the ACE officers decided to focus on 16 bite prevention topics for a color booklet that would interest children ages 5-12, the most vulnerable ages for serious dog bites. Area artists and mothers Heidi Richardson and Kelly Hughes agreed to draw the artwork for the color book. Together these women assembled the second draft for the educational project that would be called the Children and Dogs: Educational Color Book and Teacher’s Guide.

Neville contacted Missouri based certified animal behaviorist Dr. Debra Horwitz to see if she would assist the group by reviewing the color book. She advised Neville to contact Dr. John C. New, Jr., DVM, MPH, DACVPM, Professor, Department Head Comparative Medicine, from the University of Tennessee. Dr. Horwitz stated that Dr. New had a special interest in dog bite prevention, especially projects to curb such tragic and usually preventable events. Dr. New had a very busy schedule, but without hesitation, he agreed to review the project. He also helped the Ladies of ACE determine a method to “stand like a tree” that they felt would be safer than the versions seen on the Internet and elsewhere.

The Ladies of ACE did not feel comfortable with the typical placement of the hands or feet in the “stand like a tree” position. They knew that children have a hard time standing still, and had observed many children wiggling their fingers and hands when asked to “stand like a tree”. This behavior generally drove the dog to their hands and then many of the children moved even more. The Ladies of ACE were also very uncomfortable with the neck of a short child (eye level to some dogs) being left unprotected. Dr. New, Jr. agreed that a better stance should be researched. So they discussed and agreed upon a method they felt logically would be safer for short and tall children as well as adults.

Neville decided to write and include a teacher’s guide with the color book and Dr. New liked the idea. This would make it a tool that could guide a teacher or parent regarding basic dog behavior and allow more information to be shared with the children and their teachers. Neville reasoned that problems existed because children were generally unaware of how dogs act and communicate, and obviously, from the Jackson County Illinois and Wickliffe, Kentucky mauling case examples, the guardians of the children were naïve regarding their need and responsibilities to manage their children, especially younger children, around dogs. Her experiences with her dogs at large expos also taught her how ill informed adults were about greeting and behaving around strange dogs, as well as how they managed their children in those situations.

A teacher’s guide would educate children, parents, teachers, dog owners and non-dog owners about basic dog behavior and canine management. Neville reasoned that dog owners must learn to protect their pets from causing harm to others and keep their pets from getting into compromising situations.

In her research, Neville observed that color book art typically depicted dogs in passive, none threatening and unrealistic postures even when the art’s captions were discussing dog aggression topics. In other words, realistic drawings regarding dogs in aggressive postures protecting their food, other possessions or territory were nearly nonexistent. Lots of photos of happy dogs and flowers were the norm. The visual aids were inconsistent with reality and she felt that logic could not be taught without proper visual aids. So early in the development of the Project the artists were instructed to create the color book drawings to display realistic dog postures and body language. The artists responded by creating drawings that were cartoon in style but still depicted true dog body language.

Would the design of the Project work well in a classroom and or “parent as teacher” setting at home? To find out, Neville contacted friends and fellow dog savvy pet owners Tannith and Edward Parker from Flint, Michigan. Tannith is a Kindergarten teacher and her husband is a lawyer. Tannith and her husband made several helpful suggestions to improve the Project for classroom use.

Some concern was voiced whether younger children would develop a fear of dogs rather than a “respect” for them by having teeth showing in some of the artwork. Neville contacted area college psychology departments for help. Southern Illinois University Department of Psychology Professor Stephen J. Dollinger, Ph.D. graciously responded to her request and offered his professional advice and guidance on the project.

Dr. Dollinger reviewed the material and then had two early-grade teachers review and use the Project in their classrooms. The final decision was that the value of seeing realistic body language of dogs displaying aggressive postures was appropriate because the written materials in the Teacher’s Guide balanced the artwork. Also the overall theme of the Color book was positive/passive and in fact much of the artwork was described as “endearing”. Dr. Dollinger also suggested, for some children, the actual coloring of the art pages with teeth showing may need to be completed by the teacher or their guardian.

Edward Parker agreed to assist ACE of Animal Behavior with his legal talents by reviewing the complete project and writing the waiver/disclaimer. Jerry Jones, also a lawyer, parent and dog owner from Cape Girardeau, Missouri gave the project a second review as to Missouri law.

Dr. John C. New, Jr. did a final review of the project for content accuracy. Then it was mailed to northern Minnesota to Mrs. Karen Roningen.

Mrs. Karen Roningen, Neville’s high school English teacher in the 70’s, agreed to review the project for grammatical errors (of which there were several, but, as Mrs. Roningen said, they were consistently the same errors).

Neville had contacted several web design companies and college professors from her area and other states, and asked if they would donate their time to design a website for ACE of Animal Behavior. Again Southern Illinois University (SIU) would display the generosity of their academic staff and students. Without delay Dr. Dunren Che, from the Department of Computer Science at SIU, answered her call and his students agreed to design the website for ACE of Animal Behavior

SIU is located in Carbondale Illinois, which is part of Jackson County Illinois, the county that experienced the mauling of the 5-year-old boy in April of 2001.

All of the individuals who assisted in this project did so without monetary pay. The project took three years to complete and place on the Internet free for teachers and the general public.

Thank you to everyone who touched this project by giving of their talents and their valuable time. It is heartwarming to know that the work you have done may save lives (humans and dogs) or keep someone from experiencing an avoidable dog bite.

A devoted crew of professionals worked together to create a fun and educational bite prevention project. Not all of them have a pet or children. Still they understood the need for this Project and donated of themselves for you. When you read about them below, you will get a flavor for why this project held a purpose for them. They are:

The Ladies of ACE

Marilyn Olson Neville- author of the color book Project

Marilyn Olson Neville was born to parents who tilled the rich soil of the Red River Valley in Norman County Minnesota. In those days, most farmers had poultry, cattle, swine and or other livestock (a pony if you were really lucky). Like today, nearly every family on a farm had at least one dog. Her parents generally had three dogs and they were used for cattle management, varmint control and as guardians.

Marilyn’s family was not a stranger to dog/human attacks. When in first grade her older brother was attacked and seriously bitten in the face, in front of busloads of children near the schoolyard. He nearly lost an eye. That day the same dog also attacked a female classmate who lost a chunk of her tiny face. Some time before that event, a different dog had attacked her sister and grabbed her neck. If not for her heavy coat and high button collar the dog may have ripped open her neck instead of taking off her topcoat button! When Marilyn’s mother was a small child, a relative’s herding-mix dog attacked her in the night and punctured her backside. Those three events in the 30’s and 40’s taught her parents to be dog savvy and not to trust stray dogs or dogs with aggressive behavior tendencies, especially with children.

In those days, dogs generally ran loose in villages and cities. Dog obedience classes were none existent in most communities. Dogs that showed aggression were generally shot.

When Marilyn married her soul mate, Michael, also a major dog admirer, he guided her to higher standards for canine ownership through education. She learned to screen dogs for genetic diseases before breeding them. Together they whelped and placed three litters of the rare Tosa Inu and took obedience classes. Marilyn showed their dogs in conformation and has been teaching puppy and dog obedience classes in the Cape Girardeau, Missouri area since 1998.

Marilyn is one of three board members of ACE of Animal Behavior and is currently their dog obedience instructor. She helped form T.O.S.A., Inc. in 1997 and was their first president, later their secretary. She was the assistant editor for the Tosa Times newsletter 1997 –2000, and she has helped with informal Tosa rescue since 1997. She helped form the Canine Companion Training Club in 1998 and was an officer. She is also an amateur photographer, a tailor and gardener.

The Neville’s live in the beautiful foot hills of the Missouri Ozarks with their aged horses, aged Tosa Inu mastiffs, house cats, milk goats, flock of geese, ducks, guineas, laying hens and their talkative yellow nape parrot.

Cynthia Sprigg, DVM- ACE of Animal Behavior board member

Dr. Cynthia S. Sprigg practices small animal medicine in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in General Agriculture from the University of Missouri and is a 1986 graduate of the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine. After two years of employment in private practice in the St. Louis area, she opened Cross Point Animal Hospital in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, where she currently practices.

Dr. Sprigg is a practice owner and full time veterinarian maintaining membership and participation in the American Veterinary Medical Association, Association of Avian Veterinarians, Missouri Veterinary Medical Association, and the Greater St. Louis Veterinary Medical Association. She has served on both the MVMA Peer Review and Animal Welfare committees. For 15 years, Dr. Sprigg has been a member of the Western Veterinary Conference acquiring over 40 hours of continuing education annually. She now enjoys the opportunity to serve on the Board of Directors of the Western Veterinary Conference helping to provide continuing education opportunities to over 14,000 veterinarians and technicians. Dr. Sprigg is the chairman of the Board of Directors of the Association for Community Education of Animal Behavior.

Dr. Sprigg and husband, Mark, are blessed with three wonderful daughters. The two oldest are busy pursuing their own careers; the youngest is home educated. Their family also includes two dogs, four cats, a Senegal parrot, and the occasional recovering reptile or bunny. Dr. Sprigg is training for her 14th marathon and hopes to complete her first Half-Ironman later this year. Her favorite activities are hiking and backpacking with family and friends in Missouri’s Ozark Mountains.

Danon Austin- ACE of Animal Behavior board member

I have lived in Southern Illinois. since 1983 at my present residence in the quaint little community known as Union County, Ill. We presently have a 10-year-old Welch Cardigan Corgi, Sampson—aka Shorty, and a Border Collie, Jazzman—aka Clueless. I also have two opinionated horses. Notice I said “I” instead of “we” as my husband disclaims all responsibility for equines. Their names are Rocky, a 20-year-old gray Arabian who has several ribbons in the endurance circuit, and Zora Neale Hurston, an 8-year-old black Arabian mare. Rocky would still like to be an avid endurance horse and Zora is learning the ropes as my future endurance mare.

Sampson is the apple of my eye. He and I have competed obedience wise and enjoyed the competition since he has been a year old. Sampson retired from competition with a CD title. He also has a CGC and has worked as a therapy dog. Currently he is the supervisor of the puppy playground patrol, keeping the more aggressive pups in line. He was raised according to the puppy “manual” Mother Knows Best—Puppy Training the Natural Way by Carol Benjamin. I recommend this book incessantly to all interested puppy owners, not that I can take credit for discovering this gem of juvenile canine information. Sampson’s breeder told me about the book. After 10 years of puppy class supervision and teaching, I still consider this book as the “Dr. Spock” for puppies.

Sampson is also the only dog I have that was acquired from a breeder (one of the best by the way) at 9 weeks of age. The rest of our dogs have had unusual prior histories.

This leads us to the Border Collie, Jazzman, aka Clueless. Jazzy’s original name was Jasper.

As Jasper, a man who lived in a trailer court owned him. Jasper was tethered to a four-foot chain, outside, 366 days of the year with no shelter. The only attention Jasper received was when he barked at the kids who threw rocks at him. Then the man bellowed harsh words at him. My horses’ farrier lived in the same neighborhood and enlisted my help in finding a better home for this dog. (The farrier’s involvement is another story in itself.) When he told me this dog was a border collie I gulped and immediately said, “I’ll take him,” while a little voice inside my head said “WHAT HAVE YOU JUST DONE?”

This was three years ago. Jasper came to us as a one year old. We altered his name to Jazzman or Jazzy (kind of a fresh start name.) He became a 50 lb. incredible bundle of enthusiastic bouncing off the walls energy to the horror of the urbane and imminently civilized Corgi, Sampson, and so, he also acquired the nickname Clueless.

As Jazz’s rehabilitation progressed he started going to work with my husband, Randy. Randy & I co-manage a 45-acre veneer mill in the area. With all the activity at the mill (warehouse, 19 stacking sheds, manufacturing building, packaging crews, log yards, and two old maid mill dogs) Jazzy has found his place in the sun. Jazzy is now referred to as the mill superintendent and takes his job seriously. He makes sure his human is up at the crack of dawn (Carpe Diem being Jazz’s motto) and is at work seven days out of seven. He gives his all to the cause and comes home hungry and exhausted. This is quite a feat for a border collie. This is why collies of any type are FARM dogs. In my opinion they require at least 40 acres of interesting activity. I believe there is absolutely no way any collie can become a couch potato. So use this story as a caveat to anyone thinking of getting a border collie. They require lots of activity. LOTS of activity.

(April 29, 2005)

Heidi Richardson and Kelly Hughes

Heidi Richardson- artist for the color book Project

Heidi Richardson grew up with animals in Allentown Pa. Horses, cats and dogs have always been a source of joy in her life. Today, Heidi resides in Northern Virginia with her husband, their two boys and pets. Agatha, 8; Tessa, 5; and Willie, 3, are their Bernese Mountain Dogs, Barnie, Scat Cat and Kitten, their cats.

Heidi has been involved with Bernese Mountain Dog Rescue for several years. Tessa and Willie were both rescued by B.A.R.C. (Bernese Auction Rescue Coalition) and adopted by Heidi and her family.

Heidi paints and sketches for fun, she has also donated her time for fundraisers. Eight of the 16 color book art pages are Heidi’s work.

Kelly Hughes- artist for the color book Project

Kelly Hughes has drawn inspiration from the animals and natural surroundings that were a part of her life growing up. "I began my journey as an artist drawing pictures of my dog Ebony, and copying photos of horses from books. The horses, calves and piglets on our farm I remember as my friends, as pets. And of course Ebony was one of my dearest friends. He followed me everywhere..."

Ms. Hughes is presently enjoying life with her husband, two children and Golden Retriever Aleisha. She shares her art with others by painting interior murals and commissioned art works, and offers art lessons to people of all ages in her Jackson, Missouri studio business, Imaginteriors.

Eight of the 16 color book art pages are the work of Ms. Hughes.

Dr. John C. New, Jr., DVM, MPH, DACVPM

http://www.vet.utk.edu/faculty/new.shtml

Edward and Tannith Parker

Edward and Tannith Parker reside in Flint, Michigan. Edward practices law and Tannith teaches kindergarten. They have a love of children and nature. They are pictured with their female pup Blaze, who passed before her time from several genetic complications. They currently own a female Westie that keeps them on their toes.

Stephen Dollinger, Ph.D

Stephen Dollinger, Ph.D. University of Missouri, 1977, is a Professor of Psychology and Director of the Clinical Psychology program at Southern Illinois University. Dr. Dollinger’s research interests include psychotherapy (child, adult, family) and personality and he supervises child and adult clinical teams.

Professor of Psychology.

Stephen J. Dollinger, Ph.D.

Professor of Psychology & Director of Clinical Training

Distinguished Teacher

Southern Illinois University

281C Life Science II

1125 Lincoln Drive

Carbondale IL 62901-6502

Dr. Dunren Che
http://www.cs.siu.edu/~dche/

SIU Computer Science Students

You can support the efforts of ACE of Animal Behavior to offer educational materials like our Bite Prevention Project and educational animal related seminars to the public. If you would like to see how you can help Click Here.