They need to learnt he basics of how to drive a car though and manage that thanks to regulations and the need for a licence, even if a small number do drive without, when drunk etc...there will always be numpties that do that...but they need an element of education to drive thanks to regulations, why not to own a dog?

As for education....where would it be given? How? In schools? What about those children who hate animals/aren't interested/ are allergic? If it is in primary school, what about those teachers who are the same? If it is in secondary...as part of what subject?

If dog ownership is regulated, people pay for their own education. If they want a car they have to do it...why should owning a dog be less important than that?:smt002

Mostly Lack of Education and due to this bad owners and bad press coverage and in some cases the wrong breed in the wrong hands i.e. drug dealers and little boys who have a particular breed because they think it makes them look big. For most people education would help,but in my opinion the drug dealers and "little boys" would probably not listen or if they did it would go in one ear and out the other.

Now you just know this is one of those topics that can be discussed endlessly without necessarily disagreeing on the basics
Lots of people with licences and insurance etc. still break the law repeatedly, and the law is not terribly effective, and sadly more regulation just means more money being collected.
I do not think the onus should be on schools, although I understand why some advocate it. Where else do you have the opportunity to influence so many children in one go. Is it necessarily so difficult to do in school when it is a matter of safety. I know schools get more and more chucked at them at every turn but somethings could no doubt be dropped.
I know there was a great deal at school that didn't interest me but that seemed to cut no ice with the teachers I hated physics with a vengence but that was no excuse to avoid it apparently So kids hating animals definately need educating, and while they may never love them they may just avoid later phobias. Do you necessarily need to come into contact with animals to learn about them, do kids these days get to meet the Tudors or the Romans How cool is that, that never happened when I was at school
If it is to be part of schooling it would need to be started very early, probably in reception class for it to be a natural part of education. I know when mine were at school they used to have people come in with their animals, they loved the spider man with his tarantulas. It would need to continue throughout their school lives I guess but not on a weekly basis, but it could be undertaken as part of one of the subjects they already do, I know mine did something called "good citizen"
I don't think schools should be responsible for every aspect of a childs life but they should educate in the fundamentals and producing well rounded, enquiring and aware children is surely one of the fundamentals.
Waiting until people can pay for their own education to me is like closing the stable door after the horse has bolted.

I truly believe that this is not up to schools to teach, it's up to parents, I am bringing my son up to be a responsible caring member of society (I hope :smt002 ) that thinks about more than himself. There seems to be less and less pressure on parents to rear responsible children lately and more pressure on schools to do it for them.

Gone are the days when people had hamsters in their classrooms, thanks to health and safety...and complaints from parents...

I know what you're saying Trouble and when I was working fulltime I had animal rescue organisations in (with animals) to talk to my year group, but it was tied in with Literacy. We had to squeeze it in though...and something else had to give (I think it was PE and Numeracy that week). Many would argue that in this day and age it is more important kids get their exercise...

I truly believe dog ownership should be closely regulated...it is an honour and a privilige not a right to spend your life with one of these creatures. :smt002

Bad owners?
Bad press coverage?
Lack of education?
Bad breeding?
What??


all of them i think

Well you already know that I think parents have the primary responsibility to ensure their children grow up as caring individuals and not expect schools to take responsibility for everything the parents either don't have the time or the willingness to do. Don't get me started on parental responsibilility or lack of it. That said I do think it is essential to catch them young and where else is it possible to do it other than school. If the parents are either not bothered or anti animals does that mean their children have to grow up the same. Isn't school there to educate? I understand the issue of schools having to take on more and more but how did we manage to be educated in the same number of hours in a school day and still manage P.E and much more besides.

I agree with them all, but guess i would say bad press x

Lack of education would be the main, but bad owers and bad breeding also play a part and in some cases I just dont think some people are cut out to be owners, but this does not make them bad or uneducated

A friend of a friend has a dog, he loves this dog, care for her, she was well bred. However she is a loon, will not listen to anything took ages to learn the simplest commands. He was struggling and sought help from trainers, read more books so is quite educated but still seems to struggle.

Bad breeding(both pedigrees and Xs), as there is to many people out there who are just breeding for either the old excuse "the bitch needs a litter", pound signs, thinking they know all about it having read a book or spoke to someone and not thinking of all the promlems after the pups are born.

I also think the way people in the dog world attitude can to people wishing to learn. We have heard here the way some trainers are, and somethings they have been told by people who have had dogs for years, things that no expirienced owner would listen to but someone new to owning maybe inclided to.

How to fix? that is a difficult one, as most things that get suggested always have pros and cons and ofter cause conflict between people who while both have the best intrests at heart and both have ideas that are both workable and decent often find if a reason to overly criticise. This is not just a dog world thing but happens in all walks of life.

In the past, schools tended to teach the 3 R's (Reading 'riting and 'rithmetic)! That was it. Anything else was taught through that, so the study of The Vikings was done via a class Literacy project etc. (I'm talking primary here). That is far less time consuming than the way things are taught now. Whilst schools are encouraged to use history(as an example) as a vehicle to teach Literacy skills etc, they still have targets to hit for history so have to teach specific history skills...it all takes time. On top of that there is now ICT (Information and Communication Technology) and DT (Design Technology) and there is a big emphasis on science in the primary curriculum. It is full to bursting...and ultimately levels in the core subjects will continue to fall is any more is added to the curriculum, it needs less on it no more.
Remember the days of nature tables in the autumn...bringing in conkers and leaves and drawing them, writing a poem about them, investigating how they grew...etc, all topic based work like that is now nigh on impossible because of the heavy demands made in all aspects of the curriculum...it may fit one area but not another.

Schools can take on no more. I know that, I see it every day and I see how rapidly my friends who are teaching full time, are aging as they try to meet the demands of a curriculum that can take no more.

If people are to be educated about dogs and dog ownership, I can hand on heart say, it will not work in schools, certainly in primary schools. It has to be done outside of schools. If it is introduced in primary education I truly belive it will fail as it will get lost in amongst everything else.

Schools are regulated to the point of exhaustion, tested beyond belief and yet we as a society still fail too many children.
My primary school education was pretty comprehensive and mostly fun. My eldest who is now 27 had a fairly similar primary education to myself, although my younger son 20 had a different experience and if it has continued in that vein as I suspect, then Gawd help us.
Has education really progressed and improved? Or has it just changed?