A dog teaches children about the world

There are more than 400 breeds of dogs in the world, and every one of them has a story behind it. When I was a child, I would learn as much as I could about my pets. The history of my different breeds of dogs led me into other self-taught studies in geography and social studies.

These days, when I question children about their dogs, they can tell me what breed or combination of breeds it is and that is all. They seem to have no desire to learn more. These same children can rattle off endless facts about their favorite Pokémon or Nintendo animal. The problem is, the animals they want to learn about are in the virtual world, while in the real world an animal is looking up at them and wagging its tail.

It is our responsibility as parents and educators to lure our children away from the virtual world and teach them to take notice of the natural one. Learning about their own dog's breed is a great way to do this. Each breed represents a time and place in our culture and history that is full of interesting facts. If you have a mixed-breed dog, it is twice the fun, as you have more that you can learn about. Computer characters come and go, but your dog will hopefully be around for a long time.                                              - MARC MORRONE