Dog wants his very own boy. Even though Mama warns him that a boy takes a lot of work, Dog is determined to find the perfect boy for him – and wonders if boy will be hard to train? This humorous story discusses responsible pet ownership – with a twist of perspective.
Why use this book?
- Demonstrates the benefits and challenges of owning a pet
- Highlights the behaviours of a responsible pet owner
Ask your students:
- Pre-Reading Discussion Questions
- By looking at the illustration on the cover of the book and reading its title, can you predict what the story might be about? Who do you think “boy” in the title refers to?
- What do you think are the qualities of a responsible pet owner?
- Post-Reading Discussion Questions
- Do you think this is a humorous story? What makes this story humorous?
- We typically think of pet owners training a pet. Do you think there is any truth to the idea that a pet “trains” its owner?
- What do you think are some important behaviours that a pet owner should teach a pet dog?
- Do you have a pet other than a dog that you have trained in some way? Explain.
- Have you read other books that are from an animal’s point of view? What were those books about?
Activities:
- From a Pet’s Point of View – Have students or student pairs write and illustrate a story from a pet’s point of view. Students could write about adoption, training, adjusting to new situations such as a new family member or pet, children leaving the house to go to school, etc.
- Which Animal Would You Adopt – Divide students into four groups and hand out Animal Cards and Which Animal Would you Adopt? – Student Instructions. Students will take turns selecting a card, placing it face up on the table and listing one benefit and one challenge of owning that animal. Other group members can then add other benefits and challenges. Encourage students to be specific! For example, dogs of different sizes and ages will present different challenges. When students are finished with all of the cards, have each group member pick the animal that would best suit their family and explain why. Once groups are finished ask a few students to share their responses with the whole class.
- Family Pet Investigation – Have students create a survey question regarding family pets For example: What is the most common type of pet students have? What is the most popular pet students would like to have? What is the average/most common number of pets students have? What are the most common ways students participate in the care of the pet? Ask students to identify and compare two different groups. For example: boys vs. girls, comparing two different classes or grades. Students can then conduct their survey and create a double bar graph comparing two groups. Be sure students include a title, label the axes and provide a legend. You may choose to have students use technology to create their bar graphs. Students can then compose several problems that can be solved with the data in their graph. For Example: Do more boys than girls own dogs?
