Our school dog Foster and his eight siblings were born on May 4, 2018 at his breeder's, whose kennel belongs to the German Retriever Club. He is a true "field trailer" who literally has the joy of working in his genes. He grew up in a species-appropriate, very well socialized and early formative environment. The kennel is VDH and FCI licensed. Two other Labrador Retrievers and a Dachshund lived in the kennel with him, his siblings and his mother. The picture on the right shows Labrador puppies with Foster on the top left.

The puppies grew up in the house and had access to the garden with a huge "adventure landscape". There were balls, cuddly toys, crawling tunnels, seesaws, spinning tops and many other exciting objects waiting to be discovered. Foster had contact with people of all ages from an early age. When I adopted him at 8 weeks old, he was in daily contact with other dogs, children and adults of different age groups. Foster completed puppy and young dog school at the German Retriever Club. To date, he has undergone retriever-appropriate training in terms of work and obedience, passed several tests and received a breeding license. Foster lives in my household in a manner appropriate to his species and animal welfare and has contact with other dogs and people of all ages.

Foster is an extremely friendly, bright and happy dog who explores and reacts to his world with a remarkably sensitive perception. I would very much like to use and promote these abilities and his joy of working with his people, which is why I started training him as a human-dog team in April. As mentioned above, Foster has already gained some experience beforehand.

Training of Foster:

• Puppy school from the 16th week
• Young dog school from 7 months of age
• Various training courses for work and obedience tests
• Group training for dummy work
• Essential test assessment

Start of training with the school dog training was April 2021, end of training was December 2021.

Areas of application for the school dog

A school dog can be used in a very specific and targeted way, but the addition of the dog to the selection of methods, for example, already offers a completely new and great variety and possibility. This also opens up new scope for didactics.

Thanks to their interest in the school dog, the pupils have a common topic of conversation and come into contact with each other easily, as well as with the teacher. Even pupils who find it difficult to approach their classmates have little trouble opening up to the dog. He is a social catalyst, so to speak. The dog itself doesn't care what the pupils look like, what they are wearing or where they come from. He takes everyone as they are. A dog is always impartial towards everyone and never judges anyone. As a result, he encounters pupils on a completely different level and can open up access to pupils who are withdrawn or difficult. He is the mediator: in conversations that initially revolve around the dog, the pupils slowly become more open.

A school dog can even enrich school as a "stress eater" and mood booster.

School is often stressful for everyone involved. But even in the worst of moods, a cheerful dog approaching us can help us to see the world in a more relaxed light. Scientists have even been able to prove that stroking dogs measurably lowers blood pressure and heart rate.

A school dog also acts as a "good-weather fairy" for the classroom climate, "single-handedly" so to speak.

More peace, adherence to rules, more concentrated work, fewer arguments and exclusion of individual classmates together automatically ensure a better, more relaxed class atmosphere.

It is also easy to promote concentration and respect when a dog is present in the room, as the pupils learn and accept certain behaviors and manners through/with the dog. Loudness, lack of concentration and hecticness are avoided "for the dog's sake".

For a school with a socio-educational focus, the use of animal-assisted pedagogy is an excellent addition to the educational work!