New book creates awareness around communicating with pets for family success
Elizabeth Coalson from National Canine Advocacy Group shares her book, What the Dog Said, shaped by her love of animals, years of volunteering in animal welfare, and a growing realization that sometimes the biggest problems between people and dogs begins with misunderstanding.
“Dogs communicate with us every day,” she explains. “The problem is that most of us were never taught their language.”
That became the heart of What the Dog Said.
Children, especially, may not know what a dog is communicating when it turns away, becomes still, licks its lips, or tries to create distance.
Through simple illustrations, gentle storytelling, and age-appropriate lessons, the book introduces young children to the basics of canine body language and emotions. The goal isn't simply to teach children how to interact with dogs, but to help them understand what dogs are communicating before a situation becomes unsafe.
“If we can teach children to understand dogs,” she says, “we can help keep children safer. We can help keep dogs in their homes.”
National Canine Advocacy Group
What began as an idea born from years of experience with animals has become a way to reach children before misunderstandings happen—to give them a vocabulary for recognizing when a dog is happy, worried, scared, or simply asking for space.
The hope is that those lessons will travel beyond the pages and
Into classrooms.
Into families.
Into everyday interactions between children and dogs.
And, ultimately, into communities where both can be safer.
Through What the Dog Said and her work with National Canine Advocacy Group, Coalson hopes to bring dog safety and humane education into preschools and elementary schools, giving children the tools to develop safer and more respectful relationships with dogs.
Because at the heart of everything she is trying to accomplish is a simple belief:
“Every child deserves to understand dogs... and every dog deserves to be understood.”
Paperback and Kindle editions are available now:
National Canine Advocacy Group advocates for the well-being of dogs everywhere, creating a world where they have a good life, free from neglect, abuse, and suffering. Visit https://canineadvocacy.org for more Information.
Do you have something you'd like to submit that will help inform, inspire, celebrate rescue, or move someone toward helping end the pet crisis? Please email: Info@therescuedogproject.com
Your voice can help shift perspectives, encourage people to adopt successfully, volunteer confidently, advocate freely, inform rationally, and collaborate openly to help end the pet crisis in our own communities.
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