Children And Pets, A Perfect Friendship!

Childhood is possibly one of the happiest times in people’s lives and the experience of being able to grow up with a pet makes this period even more special. 

Definitely, the relationship between animals and little ones can have a great meaning for both and also for adults, besides representing an advantage of having two creatures side by side that share love equally.

Usually when we talk about pets for children, we think, most of the time, of dogs and cats.

However, there is a wide variety of pets that can accompany our children according to their age group and the space and economic conditions that the family has.

When dealing with very small children, it is best to have a larger animal as a pet. That way, the baby can’t hurt you by accident.

Although no one should allow the baby to mess too much with the pet, because  as they are learning to recognize the world, including the animals, can end up hurting the animals even unintentionally.

Also remember that it is not recommended to leave your child or any child under the age of eight alone with an animal, no matter how old the pet is, or even if it is very well trained.

Very often, under these conditions, an unfortunate situation occurs that could have been easily avoided.

For slightly older children between the ages of 5 and 8, the variety of animals is quite wide. However, puppies are big favorites as they have a lot of energy, they let the kids touch them whenever they’re careful. 

In addition, dogs give very effusive displays of affection and this can be very healthy for children’s minds and also a lot of fun.

Teach children to take care of their pet’s well being

Other animals like rabbits, hamsters or turtles are good for teaching children to respect life and nature.

For example, with turtles it is possible to use care with their maintenance as a pedagogical experience, teaching the little ones about the need to preserve the ecosystem so that animals like these can survive.

Talk about your feeding process (which is very different from ours) and try to generate real concern about preserving this type of pet.

With smaller animals such as hamsters, it is possible to educate him on how to protect the most fragile and the need for him to be responsible for caring for creatures smaller than himself.

Teach him to respect his space and keep his distance for the benefit of the animal.

You should also educate him about the kind of games that are appropriate for engaging your pet.

For example, those that require delicate things, such as children’s toys, or those that require little ones to hold animals in their arms when they are standing, are not appropriate.

In this second case, the animal can escape the child’s hands and end up injuring itself.

Do not transfer responsibilities

There is a dangerous confusion between educating about caring for an animal and holding the child accountable.

Once you’ve acquired a pet, the responsibility for caring for it should always fall to an adult, never the child.

It is very good and desirable that you want to teach your child to be responsible, and that part of your pet’s well-being will depend on your attitudes and behaviors towards it.

However, children do not have the ability to discern about certain things, such as the correct diet, which foods can be toxic to the pets, which objects are useful to play with, etc.

It’s not fair for both the pet and your child to leave something as important as an animal’s life in a child’s life, especially when the child is so small.

Ask the following question: if your child is unable to take care of himself, will he be able to take care of an animal?

This is a complete lack of judgment on the part of the adult. And the worst thing is that this is a mistake that is made very often.

Now that you know this, you’ll find that children and pets are a wonderful mix. And if you take care of it properly for both of you, it will be a happy experience that will last a long time.