School dog
A school dog is a specially trained and tested dog that is used in schools to give children experience in handling dogs. Dog handlers go to school with their dogs and offer the design of lessons. They should help to impart knowledge about dogs to children and then enable them to practice correct behavior on the dog.
In addition to volunteer dog handlers , teachers can also use their own dogs in the school. The Animal-assisted pedagogy with the dog requires special training for both the dog and for the dog handler.
concept
The use of school dogs basically requires an educational concept at the school that takes into account the individual requirements of the students and the dogs used. The aim is individual support for each student and more effective work both in the class community and in cross-class activities.
Studies by Brita Ortbauer have shown that even the temporary presence of a dog in the class (free interaction) can cause changes:
- Students prefer to go to school
- Outsiders are brought out of their isolation
- Anomalies are reduced
- Positive social contacts are encouraged
- Teachers are paid more attention.
Through controlled interactions in class, in small groups or individual work , problems in the areas of perception , emotionality , social behavior , learning and working behavior and motor skills can be worked up with results, since the dog acts as a "catalyst".
Only very well trained and managed dogs that can endure a high level of stress without showing signs of aggression are suitable as school dogs . The breed is basically irrelevant, it only depends on the nature of the individual animal.
Attending a 45-minute lesson can be very stressful for the dog. If the dog is used for several hours every day, there is a risk of over-stimulation and uncontrollability of the dog, which can put the children involved in danger.
Several hundred school dogs from different breeds or mixed breed dogs are currently used in German schools .
Legal issues
In addition to insurance-related requirements, approval must be obtained from the responsible school supervisory authority before school dogs are used. Careful health checks with regard to vaccinations , deworming and flea prevention are just as mandatory as a clarification of disciplinary and liability-related responsibilities when using school dogs as part of the school's quality management.
It is controversial whether school dogs are taxable work equipment for teachers. The Finance Court of Rhineland-Palatinate had refused recognition for a dog used in a school on three days of the week, the Düsseldorf Finance Court had allowed a 50% deduction of the expenses incurred as income-related expenses for a dog used in a school on five days of the week. The tax office has appealed to the Federal Fiscal Court.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Kurt Kotrschal , Brita Ortbauer: Behavioral effects of the presence of a dog in a classroom . In: Anthrozoos: A Multidisciplinary Journal of The Interactions of People & Animals . tape 16 , no. 2 , 2003, p. 147-159 .
- ↑ judgment 5K 2345/15 financial court Rheinland-Pfalz of 12 March 2018 called on February 10, 2019
- ↑ Judgment 1 K 2144/17 E of the Financial Court Dusseldorf on 14 September 2019. Retrieved on February 10, 2019