The Pet Hangout Blog Site! | ThePetHangout.com

It should go without saying that there is no such thing as a totally safe pet for children. The younger the child, the more vigilant you should be with their interactions with the family pet, no matter how sweet and trust worthy that pet has been. Of course you think that you have the best-behaved dog or cat in the entire world, but would you really be willing to bet your child’s safety and health on it?

Make sure that your child knows how to approach all animals, whether they are their own pets or not right from the very start. Teach your child to respect their animal friends, and you will minimize trouble for everybody. Introduce the pet and the child as early as possible, but separate the two at the very first sign of anxiety for either party. Let your dog or cat sniff baby’s foot, but do not allow them to make move toward the face or neck area. (It might actually be easier to allow the pets to sniff belongings that the baby has used before he even comes home.) Once baby is on the move, make sure that the pet has a room

Image by Brennan Mercado via Flickr

The child is the one that asked for the pet. The child is the one that picked out the exact pet that was brought home. And the child is the reason that the dog shakes his head in shame when he has to respond to Plankton as his name. But, that dog or the cat or any other pet that manages to make it into your home is not just the sole responsibility of the child, is it?

Like it or not, they become part of the family and as such, are the responsibility of everybody, at least partially. Despite protesting against it, you find yourself feeding the cat or walking the dog from time to time, but does that necessarily mean that your child is shirking his duties? Not really, if one child needed a drink of water, would you really make him wait for it?

Before you even allow a pet to come into your door, sit down with your child lay down the rules and obligations that

Every Christmas, every birthday, even every St. Patrick’s Day, your child has asked for a pet, and every year you say no, but recently you are beginning to relent. You think little Timmy might actually be ready for the responsibility of pet ownership, but what is the best pet for him and how do you actually help your child make this important choice?

First of all, do not let your child hold all of the cards in the decision process. Ask Timmy what kind of pet he would like to have and the answer might range from a ducky to a dinosaur, so start off by setting some limits. If you are an apartment dweller, you are already limited with your pet choices. No Great Danes in the penthouse!

Next, consider the level of commitment that your child has shown to projects in the past. Has he started off gung-ho, only to start slacking off with sports, hobbies and other interests? Think about your child’s closet floor, does it look like the