As soon as the green rubber bone flies through the air, a small white-brown creature dashes after it at full speed. In the spacious garden of the Falkensteinweg integrative kindergarten in Garching, you can hear happily squeaking laughter and clearly formulated commands such as “sit”, “go” or “high five” from children’s mouths. The kindergarten children romp across the lawn with their Jack Russel terrier companion “Peaches” and enjoy the determination with which the little dog dives after his precious bone, sniffs it out of carefully chosen hiding places and lets him stroke his soft fur. The smallest snuggles her head on the dog and announces while patting Peaches on the back: “What a sweet dog and so small!”
Right in the middle is Mareike Neuber, curative teacher at the kindergarten and the owner of companion dog Peaches. She wears a Mickey Mouse shirt and round glasses. She patiently points out to the children when to call the dog and what command to give. The 31-year-old originally comes from Lower Saxony, but she moved to Bavaria because of the better job opportunities. She has been in the profession for eleven years, and she wanted to be in animal pedagogy from the very beginning. “I’ve known since I did curative education. Actually, even before that, because we had a therapy dog in the family and I grew a lot from it myself,” she says. She also clearly expressed her intentions in all applications and job interviews. In Garching, they had already had good experiences with a companion dog in the past and were immediately taken with the idea of a new one. Soon after, Peaches became the children’s new companion.
Curative teacher Mareike Neuber has a lot of experience with animal-assisted education
The lady dog, who is now almost two and a half years old, came to kindergarten when she was a little puppy. Peaches has to work two to three times a week and has the rest of the week off. The bitch owes her fruity name to Neuber’s sister. She came up with the idea of naming the puppy after the little mammoth from the children’s animation film Ice Age. “It’s a tradition in our family that dog names come from films,” says Neuber.
The kindergarten children benefit in many ways from their little companion, especially in terms of self-confidence, as Neuber emphasizes. Obeying a command greatly strengthens a child’s self-confidence. “That brings such a gain in self-confidence that animal education should actually take place everywhere,” says Neuber. Recognizing and respecting boundaries also plays a major role. The children have to learn to respect Peaches when they want their peace, says Neuber.
Dog Peaches high fives.
(Photo: Florian Peljak)
On the other hand, the children can and should also signal their companion dog when they themselves do not feel like playing and romping. Gentle, but determined. “The children here know very well that they don’t have to play with the dog if they don’t want to,” says Neuber. The animal-supported pedagogy is particularly suitable for the integration children, whom Neuber also “wants to and must support” as a curative teacher. These could be children with disabilities or children who need more support in the social-emotional area. If there was “a little friend” in the form of a companion dog, they could open up more quickly.
Due to the cute appearance of the companion dog, the children have not had any appreciable fears so far. With a man-sized Doberman, for example, this could possibly look different. As it is, Neuber’s biggest concerns are that the children won’t “cuddle the dog too much like a cuddly toy”. In fact, she admits, Jack Russel terriers are “rather unusual” as companion dogs. The small hunting dogs are quite lively compared to the calmer Golden Retrievers. “But I already knew from previous experience that you can do animal-assisted education with any dog if the upbringing is consistent and trusting,” she explains. This bond and partnership between dog and owner is the “most important thing”.
At the moment, Peaches still have the basic training that any family dog can do. But what distinguishes them from a family dog through regular contact with children is their trained sensitivity. You can sense which child is more reserved, quiet or confident. This can also be observed outside when playing in the garden. Peaches behaves cautiously and hesitantly with the smaller girls and boys, but jumps right into action when throwing bones at a larger child. “For the children, this is not just the companion dog, but a member of the group,” says the teacher. The little ones like to roll up their sleeves to bake treats for their four-legged friend from carrots, zucchini and spelled flour. The children can try them too, as they are natural ingredients. And contrary to expectations: “Some were even very into it,” reports Neuber and smiles.