This publication is to offer a way to teach students rules for personal safety. As a retired social worker, I would teach personal safety lessons, particularly body safety, in central Indiana schools. This publication can potentially provide a different way to discuss sensitive issues through a dog like Linus.

This book can assist in explaining personal safety by discussing safety and personal curriculum from a dog's traumatic life. The book allows a student to relate to a dog's life like Linus. Linus has experienced some of the same life experiences, such as a problematic life ranging from a fall downstairs resulting in a broken back, rejection of five previous owners, medical problems like attacks from other dogs, and homelessness because Linus lived in six different places in six years. Some students understand firsthand some of the same trauma they have unfortunately encountered.

Students learn through repetition and different modalities; therefore, differentiated instruction is vital to review the personal safety rules.

The events between Linus's birth and the day his daddy adopted him from a dog rescue offer opportunities for students to compare their problems to Linus. A student may self-report some trauma or abuse, and it is essential to complete the required process to report abuse. Educators, counselors, and other school support staff could also use this book when talking with children they suspect may have experienced physical or sexual abuse.

--Sandra Lofland-Brown, social worker

--Luther Lee Lofland Jr., special education teacher (for thirty-eight years)

Written by Luther Lee Lofland Jr. (317-966-6565) and Sandra Lofland-Brown (765-918-6045)