Presbyterian Church hosts day for dogs and kids
Fri, 2016-07-29 05:00
News Staff
By LYNETTE SOWELL
Cove Leader-Press
Instead of having Vacation Bible School this year, First Presbyterian Church decided reprise their special event from last year, bringing kids and animals together.
For their second annual “Day for Dogs, Cats, and Kids”, the church hosted several daycare centers throughout the day on Wednesday learned firsthand from local pet experts.
Sam Guinn, owner of Barking Oaks Pet Salon, which is next to the church, gave the first part of the workshop along with Pebble, his nine-year-old Standard Poodle.
The retired show dog was a hit with the children, who gathered around to pet her. Guinn talked to the children about pet grooming and hygiene, to include nail trimming and tooth brushing.
“Dog grooming has been around for about 3,000 years,” Guinn told the children after quizzing them about that question. “The Greeks and Romans were the first ones to start dog grooming, and poodles were the first ones to be groomed.”
He added that poodles were groomed by royals to look like lions. They discussed breeds of dogs, and Guinn demonstrated proper brushing techniques and showed off the variety of grooming tools for brushing, cutting the pet’s hair, and also trimming nails.
The seminar included a quiz time, with Guinn asking the children how much they thought people spent on dog grooming every year. He gave them the answer, that pet grooming is a $6 billion industry in the United States, with the entire pet industry being $23 billion, including veterinarians, doggy daycare, toys, food, medicine and grooming.
After Guinn and Pebble had their turn, representatives from the Animal Medical Center also gave a presentation.
Their section of the workshop included pet safety and health, along with how to meet a new dog and what to do when approaching a strange or stray dog on the street.
The children learned the steps of Ask, Meet, Pet when encountering someone with a dog.
They were also shown a graphic that included a dog’s body language that would tell them when a dog is in the mood to be approached and petted.
The church’s pastor, Naomi Ingrim, came up with the concept of hosting a day for pets and kids at the church last year, to reach into the community, especially its children.