
Wag Whisperers is designed to do more than teach children how to safely interact with dogs.
It provides a real-world opportunity to reinforce the character traits, social skills, and responsible decision-making that schools work to build every day.
By applying these lessons to interactions with animals, children can practice empathy, respect, self-control, responsibility, cooperation, and trust in a way that is tangible, memorable, and relevant to their everyday lives.
Respect, responsibility, empathy, self-control, politeness, excellence, cooperation, and trust are not just values to memorize, they are skills to practice.
Learning to recognize when a dog needs space, follow safety guidelines, control impulses, and respect boundaries gives children meaningful examples of how these values translate into everyday actions.
Dogs communicate differently from people, and understanding them requires children to observe, listen, recognize discomfort, and respond thoughtfully.
These lessons encourage perspective-taking, emotional awareness, patience, and self-regulation, skills that can support positive interactions with both animals and other people.
Dog safety is a life skill that extends beyond the classroom.
By teaching children how to make informed decisions around animals, recognize potential risks, and advocate for safe interactions, schools can help students apply responsible decision-making in their homes, neighborhoods, and public spaces.
These lessons also reinforce the importance of protecting the well-being of others, including animals who depend on people to respect their needs and boundaries.
Please reach us at waggingwithwisdom@gmail.com if you cannot find an answer to your question.
Upon arrival, my demo dogs and I settle into our space and a 8-10 minute slideshow covering the "Responsibilities of a Canine Advocate" starts off our presentation, including;
By signing the pledge at the end of every presentation, your student promises to practice kindness, patience, safety, and respect when interacting with dogs. This pledge helps reinforce important lessons about empathy, responsibility, and advocacy, making it more likely that your student will remember and apply these skills at home, school, and throughout their communities with all humans & creatures.
***Find the Wag Whisperer Pledge at the bottom of this page***
For each presentation, I will bring up to 2 of my "demo dogs" to accompany me in demonstrating how to apply what they learned at the conclusion. Some of these dogs are trained for different tasks and can provide both typical therapy style comforts as well as an array of trick or "working" demonstrations. Each student will have the choice whether to interact or not.
Interaction is NEVER mandatory.
I teach students that similar to the animals we wish to interact with, we always want the choice to do so or not. They should always listen to their own bodies, owner boundaries, and adult rules above all else, before engaging with any animal.
By signing this pledge at the end of the presentation,
your student promises to practice kindness, patience, safety, and respect when interacting with dogs. This pledge helps reinforce important lessons about empathy, responsibility, and advocacy, making it more likely that your student will remember and apply these skills at home, school, and throughout their communities with all humans & creatures.
Wagging with Wisdom
Located in Groton, CT - serving CT & surrounding areas
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