PRIMARY school children have been taking part in an event aimed at educating them about dogs.

The youngsters, from Broom Cottages Primary School, in Ferryhill, were at the Paws-a-While dog creche on the Chilton Industrial Estate, yesterday.

The event was part of National Pet Month and featured trained rottweilers from the Kennel Club.

Doreen Reed, from Paws-a-While, said: "We had 20 children here aged seven, eight and nine.

"The idea was to show them that not all dogs are vicious like the media sometimes portrays, but they are not all just cuddly pets either.

"We taught them how to approach a dog properly, not from behind and that they should always ask the owner's permission before they did, and never to approach a dog when it is eating. There was a fun element too and we had the dogs doing tricks like playing dead and standing on two legs, and we had a colouring competition too."

The creche at unit 17 Chilton Industrial Estate is holding a fun day on Monday, from 11am.