Eight-month-old dog Emmet visited Cessnock Public School as part of an integrated teaching unit on needs and wants.

Emmet has been providing pet therapy at various schools in the area, supervised by his handler, district school counsellor, Toni Falk.

The kinder and year one students learnt the basics about what dogs need, how to take care of a puppy and interacting safely with a dog.

“There have been too many stories about animal cruelty in recent years, so it was a wonderful opportunity to be invited into the kindy class to teach children how to enjoy the company of a pet while treating them with kindness and respect,“ Ms Falk said.

K-1 teacher Mrs Stewart agreed that it was important to teach the children about caring for a pet.

“It was just delightful to see how thrilled the students were about having a puppy in the classroom,” Mrs Stewart said.

Students were taught how to approach a dog in a safe way and ask if it is okay to have a pat.

Class members also got to see Emmet sit on command and gave him a treat for obedience.

“The children also developed a greater understanding of a puppy’s needs by reading his body signals – wagging tail, eye contact, alert ears and so on,” Ms Falk said.

“This is beneficial in terms of teaching​ children to pay greater attention to non verbal cues in people so that they can gain a greater understanding of human needs.”

There was lots of laughter and giggling when Emmet sang and put on a dance performance for the class.