Kids-4-K9s, Incorporated

Established formally as a non-profit corporation in June 2012, with funding support from the Open Society Institute (1), Kids-4-K9s, Inc. began delivering humane education programming in the Baltimore City Public Schools and surrounding communities. The program’s initial focus was to establish and grow an animal cruelty awareness campaign but quickly grew into an animal assisted program that uses the natural bond between children and animals to teach empathy and encourage nonviolent ways to resolve conflict. In Baltimore, like other cities across the nation, cases of animal cruelty and neglect isn’t just about the act on the animal; it impacts everyone involved and is also symptomatic of the growing domestic violence issues that are so often co-existing in a community. Studies have shown that when animals in a home are abused or neglected, it is a warning sign that others in the household may not be safe. Because abusers target the powerless, crimes against animals, spouses, children, and the elderly often go hand in hand. It is also well-documented that youth in urban communities are frequently witnesses to violent behavior. Many have experienced traumatic losses related to this violence. Some manifest their anger by harming animals or bullying their peers or other innocent people. And incidents of this kind of behavior seem to be on the rise. With the Kids-4-K9s humane education program, we can teach young people how to empathize and show them alternative positive ways to handle conflict. Founder, Natalie Keegan tells a story about a nine-year-old boy who threw rocks at a neighborhood dog to avoid appearing afraid of the dog in front of his friends. With help from Keegan and her dogs, he discovered that dogs can actually feel things very much like people can. He started talking to the dog, saying ‘Hello’ and ‘Good boy!’ as he walked by. Before long, the dog stopped barking at him and instead now sniffs the air and wags his tail when the boy walks by. This made the youth feel better about himself and Keegan believes it helped to change the way he treated his friends at school. Keegan hopes that instead of getting mad when things don’t go his way, he will try to think about it from the other person’s point of view and consider what he can do differently.

Much of our classroom-based programming is based on the work of Dr. Libby Coleman and Dr. Lynn Loar (Teaching Empathy: Animal-Assisted Therapy Programs for Children and Families Exposed to Violence - The Latham Foundation for the Promotion of Humane Education 2004; Teaching Compassion: A Guide for Humane Educators, Teachers, and Parents - The Latham Foundation for the Promotion of Humane Education 1999).

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
A very special thank you to Drs. Libby Colman and Lynn Loar, for their generous gift of time and professional guidance in the planning for the final content and delivery of the Kids-4-K9s Humane Education Program; I will forever be grateful. The best advice they gave was to incorporate take-home “clickers” for each of the students and encouraging me to seek permission from the publisher to use “Good Dog” (Pang & Louie) in the classroom. Also, a big thank you to Joan Orr and Doggone Safe for their outstanding bite prevention educational materials, which are a critical piece of the program. Their online and classroom materials help children and their families understand how to interact safely with dogs. Their website also offers support to those who have been bitten. Finally, a huge warm and enthusiastic thank you to Karen Pryor, who has been my unofficial mentor for many years. Her gentle approach to teaching and learning has been the foundation for all of the Kids-4-K9s animal training content AND the guiding force in both my professional dog training career and personal life. The groundwork and piloting phase of the program would not have been possible without the support from the Baltimore Open Society Community Fellowship, which provided funding for classroom materials as well as invaluable guidance and support in critical program development and networking opportunities to assist with program sustainability. Finally, the commitment of the Baltimore City school community in ensuring the program’s successful delivery during the pilot phase, allowed us to gain critical program outcome data and learning materials that have already proven to be invaluable.

The Kids-4-K9s Humane Education Program content was developed based on a combination of existing successful programs and scholarly writings, including:
    Aloff, Brenda. Canine Body Language: A photographic guide - interpreting the native language of the domestic dog. Wenatchee, Washington, USA: Dogwise Publishing, 2005. Print.
    Anderson, Elizabeth. The Powerful Bond Between People and Pets: Our Boundless Connections to Companion Animals. West Port, CT, USA: Praeger Publishers, 2008. Print.
    Antony, Martin M, and Randi E McCabe. Overcoming animal & insect phobias: How to conquer fear of dogs, snakes, rodents, bees, spiders & more. Oakland, CA, USA: New Harbinger Publications, Inc., 2005. Print. 
    Ascione, Frank R. Children & Animals: Exploring the Roots of Kindness & Cruelty. West Lafayette, Indiana, USA: Purdue University Press, 2005. Print.
    Ascione, Frank R, and Phil Arkow. Child Abuse, Domestic Violence, and Animal Abuse: Linking the Circles of Compassion for Prevention and Intervention. West Lafayette, Indiana, USA: Purdue University Press, 1999. Print.
     Beck, Alan, and Aaron Katcher. Between Pets and People: The Importance of Animal Companionship. Revised Edition. West Lafayette, Indiana, USA: Purdue University Press, 1996. Print.
     Brooks, Evelyn. A Voice for The Animals. Pelham, NY, USA: Benchmark Education Company, 2002. Print.
    Burch, Mary R, and Jon S Bailey. How Dogs Learn. New York, NY, USA: Wiley Publishing, Inc., 1999. Print.
    Charney, Ruth Sidney. Teaching Children to Care: Classroom Management for Ethical and Academic Growth, k-8. Revised Edition. Greenfield, MA, USA: Northeast Foundation for Children, 2002. Print.
    Davis, Kathy Diamond. Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others. 2nd Edition. Wenatchee, Washington, USA: Dogwise Publishing, 2002. Print.
    Delta Society. The Human: Animals in the Classroom. Bellevue, WA, USA: Delta Society, 2005. Print.
    Dogs, Cats, and Kids: Learning to be safe with pets (www.dogscatskids). Donald Manelli & Associates, Inc 2011. DVD.
    Kaye, Cathryn Berger, and The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. A Kid’s Guide to Protecting & Caring for Animals. Minneapolis, MN, USA: Free Spirit Publishing, Inc., 2008. Print.
    Lind, Nancy. Animal Assisted Therapy. Lombard, IL, USA: PYOW Publishing Inc., 2009. Print.
    Linzey, Andrew. The Link Between Animal Abuse and Human Violence. Portland, Oregon, USA: Sussex Academic Press, 2009. Print.
    Loar, Lynn, and Libby Coleman. Teaching Empathy: Animal-Assisted Therapy Programs for Children and Families Exposed to Violence. Alameda, CA, USA: Latham Foundation for the Promotion of Humane Education, 2004. Print.
    Logan, Frank A. Incentive: How the Conditions of Reinforcement Affect the Performance of Rats. Second Printing. The Murray Printing Company: Forge Village, Massachusets, USA, 1964. Print.
     Orr, Joan. Doggone Safe Dog Bite Prevention. http://doggonesafe.com: Web. McCardle, Peggy, Sandra McCune, James A. Griffin, Layla Esposito, and Lisa S. Freund. Animals in Our Lives: Human-Animal Interaction in Family, Community, & Therapeutic Settings. Baltimore, Maryland, USA: Paul H Brooks Publishing Company, 2011. Print.
    McCardle, Peggy, Sandra McCune, James A. Griffin, and Valerie Maholmes. How Animals Affect Us: Examining the Influence of Human-Animal Interaction on Child Development and Human Health. Washington, DC, USA: American Psychological Association, 2011. Print.
    McConnell, Patricia B., and Aimee M. Moore . Family Friendly Dog Training. Black Earth, WI, USA: Dog's Best Friend, Ltd, 2006. Print.
    Miller, Jane. Healing Companions: Ordinary Dogs and Their Extraordinary Power to Transform Lives . Franklin Lakes, NJ, USA: New Page Books, 2010. Print.
    Pang, Evelyn, and Hilary Louie. Good Dog! Kids Teach Kids About Dog Behavior and Training. Wenatchee, Washington, USA: Dogwise Publishing, 2008. Print.
    Pryor, Karen. Reaching the Animal Mind: Clicker Training and What it Teaches us About all Animals. New York, NY, USA: Scribner, 2009. Print.
    Pryor, Karen. Getting Started: Clicker Training for Dogs. New Expanded Edition. Waltham, MA, USA: Sunshine Books, Inc, 2005. Print.
    Pryor, Karen. Don't Shoot the Dog: The new art of teaching and training. Revised Edition. New York, NY, USA: Bantam Books, 1999. Print.
    Raphael, Pamela, Libby Colman, and Lynn Loar. Teaching Compassion: A Guide for Humane Educators, Teachers, and Parents. Alameda, CA, USA: Latham Foundation for the Promotion of Humane Education, 1999. Print.
    Ramirez, Kenneth T. Animal Training: Successful Animal Management Through Positive Reinforcement. Chicago, IL, USA: Shedd Aquarium, 1999. Print.
    Rivera, Michelle A. Canines in the Classroom: Raising Humane Children through Interactions with Animals. New York, NY, USA: Lantern Books, 2004. Print. 

(1) The Open Society Institute (OSI) –Baltimore, established in 1998, is the only field office for the Open Society Foundations’ U.S. Programs, focusing on a single city and testing the effectiveness of place-based philanthropy strategy on some of the biggest challenges facing Baltimore and other urban centers in the United States. OSI’s three intertwined programs aim to keep children connected to and engaged in school by making city-wide reforms that lower suspension rates and increase attendance and enhancing after-school and learning initiatives; make drug addiction treatment accessible to all who need it through well-implemented health care reforms and support for a diverse coalition to advocate for treatment expansion; and reduce the number of Marylanders caught up in the criminal/juvenile justice systems through diversion and re-entry programs and the systemic reform of ineffective and discriminatory sentencing, parole, and probation policies. OSI also supports the Baltimore Community Fellows, a corps of social innovators—now over 120 strong—who work directly to revitalize underserved communities, demonstrating the potential of talented individuals to catalyze social change. The Baltimore office has become one of the city’s most visible and effective civil society groups, spending over $90 million in 14 years to support its comprehensive approach to the root causes of poverty and injustice.