Humane Education
A Humane Education Curriculum For Students Who are Blind or Visually Impaired
Jennie D. Feinstein
Virginia Commonwealth University
Susan M. Bruce
Meghan Kennedy
Boston College

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A Humane Education Curriculum For Students Who are Blind or Visually Impaired
Individuals with visual impairments have fewer opportunities to observe dogs and many also have fewer opportunities to interact with dogs. This lack of experience may create fearfulness. Like everyone, individuals with visual impairment may face decisions about dog ownership. Additionally, some may decide to use a guide dog for mobility or a service dog to support daily living. Students with low vision and blindness benefit from direct instruction on animal care skills that sighted individuals may learn through visual observation. Having experiences with dogs and especially with working dogs is an essential part of the preparation necessary to making informed decisions about dogs
(Young, 1997). Animal assisted humane education has been linked to increased empathy and self-esteem and reduction in aggression (Arkow, 2010). Humane education can be a viable component of the science curriculum for all students. This article shares an eightlesson curriculum in Humane Education including course content, skills to be practiced, and adaptations and accommodations for learners with visual impairments. The reader is referred to (authors, date) for more information on the action research study that applied this course curriculum and its findings about student knowledge and learning.
The Course Curriculum and Materials
The curriculum presented here was offered in an eight week after school program for secondary students with visual impairments. Curricular ideas were drawn from the
Best Friends Curriculum of the American Kennel Club (AKC, 2014), National Humane
Education Society (NHES, 2010) , the Massachusetts’ Society for the Prevention of
Cruelty to Animals (MSPCA, 2013 ) and adapted for students with visual impairments and blindness. The animal assisted course addressed both the physical and psychological

Humane Education 3 care of dogs. Students practiced skills and interacted with Norm, a professionally trained therapy dog who accompanies the first author to the school. Thus, the students were slightly familiar with the dog prior to the course.
A course kit was developed for each secondary student. The kit included: dog brush, food/water dish, tennis ball, gloves, waste bags, and bandana placed in a study drawstring bag. The kits were used during the application of skills component of each session. Students learned the names for equipment in the kit and were able to locate them.
Students were given the kits to take home upon successful completion of the course. The following additional equipment was necessary to the course: two types of toothbrushes
(long handle with two tips and fingertip brush), coat brushes for different purposes
(rubber grooming brush and undercoat rake), portable food/water bowl, bandages, and dog crate.
A routine was followed for each class session. Students were asked to describe their favorite part of the previous session. They were also asked to name one thing they learned before new curricular content was introduced. This was followed by a brief lecture and then an application activity. Often, additional opportunities to rehearse skills were embedded within lecture. Finally, each session closed with students sharing a casual interaction with Norm. The element of choice was integrated into each of these opportunities. For example, they might choose to sit on a sofa while Norm sat on the floor or they might invite Norm to join them on the sofa. Across sessions students were regularly asked, “If you do not know, how can you find out/who can you ask?” Later in the course this question allowed them an opportunity to apply what they were learning about various professionals who provide services to dogs. Across sessions emphasis was

Humane Education 4 placed on tactile adaptations, sufficient time to engage in tactual exploration and to practice skills that these students might not be able to observe, and experiences that capitalized on listening (such as recordings of dogs drinking, eating, and having their teeth brushed). See Figure 1 for the course content, skills that were practiced, and adaptations and accommodations for visual impairment.
<Insert Figure 1 about here>
In addition to the adaptations and accommodations listed in Figure 1, we found it was critical to listen to students’ misperceptions and correct them as they were expressed.
In our course, we found these were errors due to visual impairment and lack of experience. For example, one student thought that there were dog ambulances and several students had serious misperceptions about the roles of different professionals and organizations. All of the students struggled with estimation (of animal weight, amount of food and water, and costs). We also found that the pre test and pre interview were important to differentiating instruction and to identifying previous positive and negative encounters with dogs.
Humane Education as Part of the Science Curriculum
The National Association of Biology Teachers (NABT) asserts that there is a role for animals in the science curriculum. Live animals are helpful to learning about animal life and care (NABT, 2008). Humane education course content can be connected to the standards in the general education science curriculum. Here are two examples from the
Massachusetts Science Frameworks, in the area of Life Science-Biology that were addressed by this course.

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 Recognize that animals (including humans) and plants are living things that grow, reproduce, and need food, air, and water.
 Identify the ways in which an organism’s habitat provides for its basic needs
(plants require air, water, nutrients, and light; animals require food, water, air, and shelter).
Humane Education courses offer opportunities to practice estimation skills, which are important to both the science and math curricula.
Structured courses in
Conclusion humane education are especially important for individuals with visual impairments who may have fewer opportunities to interact with dogs or to observe others interact with dogs. Humane education is critical to informed and responsible decision-making about pet and working dog ownership. Direct instruction and practice is essential to mastering content in animal-assisted Humane Education.

Humane Education
References
American Kennel Club. (2014). Best friends . Retrieved from http://www.akc.org/public_education/best_friends.cfm
Arkow, P. (2010). Animal-assisted interventions and humane education: Opportunities for a more targeted focus. In A. H. Fine (Ed.). Handbook on animal-assisted therapy: Theoretical foundations and guidelines for practice.
Third edition (pp.
457-480). Boston: Elsevier.
Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals–Angell. (2013).
Resources for educators: Lesson plans . Retrieved from http://www.mspca.org/programs/humane-education/resources-foreducators/lesson-plans.html
National Association of Biology Teachers. (2008). The use of animals in biology education. Retrieved from http://www.nabt.org/websites/institution/index.php?p=97
National Humane Education Society.
(2010).
Lesson plans.
Retrieved from http://www.nhes.org/sections/view/325
Young, J. L. (1997). Positive experiences with dogs: An important addition to the curriculum for blind and visually impaired children. RE:view, 29, 55-61.
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Figure 1: Humane Education Course Curriculum for Students with Visual Impairments
Session #1
Knowledge:
 Introduction of students and course
 Pre-test and pre-interview on knowledge about dogs (including working dogs)
 Students share personal experiences with dogs
 Introduction to dogs and vocabulary (such as canine and humane education)
 Diversity in people and dogs (such as big/little, young/old)
 Introduction to a few dog body parts (head, paw, and tail)
 Introduction to a few pieces of equipment (leash, collar, and vest)
 Meeting and greeting dogs (asking owner for permission to pet dog and using the the command “shake”)
Skills to practice:
 Identification of head, paw, and tail on dog
 Identification and tactual exploration of leash, collar, and vest
 Practice meeting and greeting dog (including asking permission to pet and shake paw)
Accommodations for visual impairment:
 Allow ample time for each student to explore each piece of equipment
 Provide hands on support with fasteners on the leash, collar, and vest as needed
Session #2
Knowledge:
 Review of Session #1 concepts (such as identifying body parts)

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 Introduce additional body parts of dog: pad, nails, neck, stomach, shoulders, front and back of legs, elbow, crest, withers, muzzle, croup
 Discuss body parts we touch and we don’t touch (including what’s under the tail)
 Introduce items in dog kit
 Discuss shedding (what it is and where the shed hair goes)
 Discussion about dog-like animals
 Discuss ways dogs show affection
Skills to Practice:
 Touching and naming dog’s body parts
 Identification and tactual exploration of items in dog kit
Adaptation for Visual Impairment:
 Practice identification of dog’s body parts when the dog is in different positions.
For example, the location of the legs (in relationship to the head) is different when the dog stands or lies down.
Session #3
Knowledge:
 Physical care of dog: food, water, and clean-up
 Food management: How often and how much to feed, good and bad food (such as people food being unhealthy for dogs), who to ask about feeding, and weight management (including what to do for an overweight dog)
 Water: How often to provide water, how much water, how to know if your dog drank too much

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 Toileting: Frequency of elimination, what dog waste can tell you about health, which kit items can be used to pick up dog waste
Skills to Practice:
 Explore variety of food and water dishes to support students to figure out what works best for them (include portable dog dish for travel)
 Filling water and food dishes and putting them on the ground
 Practice “release” command when it’s time for dog to eat
 Waste clean up (explain how to trace along the arch of dog’s back to locate fresh waste)
 Two ways of picking up waste: (1) using gloves and (2) using inside out bag that is reversed after picking up waste).
 Listen and identify sounds of dog eating and drinking
 Relate above to also listening for sounds of good and bad health (such as diarrhea and coughing if the dog drinks too much water).
Accommodations for visual impairment:
 Tactual measuring techniques for food and water
 Additional practice time for waste pick-up techniques
Session #4
Knowledge:
 Review of body parts
 Importance of grooming: Address this for each type of grooming. For example, we brush dogs for cleanliness, comfort, and because it supports us to identify possible skin problems.

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 Frequency of each grooming activity: bathing, brushing dental care, nail care
 Explain risks of nail care (what happens if you cut too much, too little)
 What can you do yourself (brushing, dental care, bathing)? When should you consider hiring someone else (such as for clipping nails)? What are the cost implications?
 Shedding (what is it and where does it go)
 Equipment for grooming: dog brushes (different types), nail clippers, toothbrush
(different types)
 Discuss the care needs of different breeds and dogs in different climates (different coats and brushing, ear cleaning needs, etc.)
Skills to practice:
 Provide opportunities for students to listen as others groom the dog (especially how different types of toothbrushes sound)
 Locate grooming equipment when named
 Handle and explore all types of grooming equipment
 Engage in choice-making about the correct brush for the dog’s need
 Practice brushing (with adaptation below to protect dog’s eyes
 Engage in choice-making about the type of toothbrush to use (long handle or fingertip brush)
 Feel and identify a freshly clipped nail and one that needs to be clipped (cut only some of the working dog’s nails to provide students with this opportunity)
Accommodations for visual impairment:
 Touch shed hair

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 Practice locating and protecting the dog’s eyes before brushing (hand over eyes or identify location of eyes and avoid brushing in that area)
Session #5
Knowledge:
 Providing appropriate shelter for weather considerations
 More equipment: flea collars, ear wash, creams, bandages
 Questions to Address about the Veterinarian: How do you know when to take your dog to the vet? Where is the vet? How do you find a vet? What can you expect from a vet/what do they do? How much does it cost? Does the vet offer a discount for working dogs? What are the vet’s hours? What kinds of questions should I ask the vet? What happens at the annual check-up? What are signs of canine illness? What happens during illness visits? What is euthanasia? How are canine health emergencies handled after veterinarian hours? This last question includes knowing that someone will need to drive the dog to the vet.
 Discussion of packs-humans as part of pack, alpha in pack
 How to know when dog needs to eliminate (and importance of listening)
Note: Be sure that students don't confuse what to do in human health emergencies with what to do in dog emergencies. For example, one of our students thought you could call for a dog ambulance. They need to consider how to get a well or sick dog to the vet, including the need for a driver.
Skills to practice:
 Describing injuries (identifying body part)
 Bandaging actual dog

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 Exploring dog crate
 Problem solving different emergency situations
Accommodations for visual impairment:
 More time to discuss roles of various professionals (due to lack of opportunities to observe these roles).
 Hands on support to bandage dog
Session #6:
Knowledge:
 Psychological care of dog (meaning and importance)
 Humane treatment is giving a dog what it needs (for example, taking it to the vet when it is hurt and meeting its socialization needs)
 Humane treatment vs. cruelty: gentle touch vs. roughness, firm talk vs. angry tone of voice, providing for needs vs. not providing for needs. Provide examples of cruelty and consequences (removing dog from home, etc).
 Basic dog training (how dogs learn from actions and words/how to teach them, different dogs learn differently). Teach what they should do – don’t just correct them. Even dogs who attend training classes won’t learn everything they need there, ongoing training is needed.
 Reasonable expectations of dogs
 Review of what to touch and not to touch
 Play and exercise - Introducing play and exercise equipment (tennis balls, toys).
Why exercise is important for the body, including brain
Skills to practice:

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 Petting dog gently
 Give dog a basic command (drop, sit, shake)
 Exercising dog outside: throwing ball and playing fetch or walking dog
Adaptations for visual impairment:
 How to walk dog when using a cane
 Exercise and play in a defined space to support locating play items and dog
Session #7
Knowledge:
 Puppies (age of puppies, characteristics, behaviors, human expectations of puppies)
 Different dog roles: pets, therapy dogs, and guide dogs
 Laws about guide dogs (where they can go)
 Where to get each type of dog (including disadvantages of pet stores)
 Importance of high quality training. Training can be lost if you travel and leave your dog with someone who doesn’t follow through in the same way you do.
 Costs of dog ownership- vet, food, medicine, pick-up bags, toys, crate, bed, grooming (average $90-$290 month)
Skills to practice:
 Review exercise: Provide a bag that is filled with different types of equipment
(ball, collar, brush, different bowls, etc.). Instructor names a piece of equipment.
Students will locate it in the bag and explain its use.
 Relaxation activity: Getting photo taken with dog. (We offered a choice of causal activity time or a photo and they all wanted a photo with Norm.)

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Accommodation for visual impairment.
 Allow extra time to explore and name items in the mystery bag.
Week #8:
 Post-test and post interviews on knowledge about dogs (including working dogs) and personal experiences with dogs
 Interacting with a puppy
 Presentation of framed photos with service dog
 Presentation of dog kits (to take home)
Accommodation for visual impairment:
 Preface interaction with puppy by explaining that they are less predictable and often move more quickly than mature dogs.