Clifford the Big Red Dog® teaches children important pet care in new book series
It's never too early to learn kindness and compassion towards each other, and for animals. Young children are often first exposed to animals through their first toy dog or stuffed bear. As they begin to learn reading skills and watch educational programming, it's a good time to show them the differences between the pretend care of their toy and real caregiving for their family dog.
Having a young child aware of what it means to care for another living creature, especially a beloved family pet, can help grow their empathy. A very popular children's character has been tapped to help educate youngsters in a new book series.
Bayer Animal Health has partnered with the iconic storybook character Clifford the Big Red Dog to create custom “Clifford Goes to the Doctor” books, which features tips for families to prevent bites from fleas, ticks and mosquitos which can carry diseases, such as Lyme disease and Ehrlichia, also known as companion vector-borne diseases (CVBD).
To celebrate the limited-edition book, Bayer Animal Health Veterinarian, Dr. Dan Carey joined Clifford at a local elementary school in Miami, FL to read the book to first graders and share important pet care tips.
Bayer Animal Health also donated more than 1,600 copies of “Clifford Goes to the Doctor” to elementary schools throughout the Miami-Dade School District.
To unveil the limited-edition book, Bayer and Clifford the Big Red Dog, the beloved canine created by bestselling author/illustrator Norman Bridwell, visited the Coral Park Elementary School in Miami where Bayer Animal Health Veterinarian, Dr. Dan Carey, read the story to more than 140 first graders and addressed their pet care questions.
“Pets can teach children valuable lessons when it comes to responsibility,” said Dr. Carey. “No matter how young, it’s important for children to learn good habits early when it comes to providing the best possible care for a pet.”
Vector-borne diseases, such as Lyme disease, heartworm disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever, can be transmitted when parasites bite your pet and take a blood meal. Among them, Lyme disease, babesiosis and leishmaniasis are known to veterinarians throughout the world as a growing threat.
“At Bayer, we understand how important our pets are to our families and to our wellbeing,” said Dr. Joe Hostetler, Manager of Companion Animal Veterinary Service at Bayer Animal Health North America. “Clifford the Big Red Dog is the ideal character to teach children and families how to care for their pets, and as part of that care, we encourage pet owners to speak with their veterinarian about ways to protect their pets from parasites.”
I believe it's never too early to begin a compassionate and humane education of our children. If a big red dog can help a young child begin to feel empathy for the life and wellbeing of another, I'm all for it.
For More Information:
- About Clifford the Big Red Dog visit: http://mediaroom.scholastic.com/Clifford
- About CVBD, visit: www.cvbd.org.
- About Bayer Animal Health and ways to protect pets from parasites, visit: www.animalhealth.bayer.com.
What do you think? Is this series a good idea? If you have children, has a book like this helped teach them lessons about caregiving?