Safe Pets for Children!

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 to escape to whenever he feels the need to do so. Some dogs will realize that your noisy, tail-pulling toddler is a nearly constant source of easy food, so he may put up with far more than you ever gave him credit for. Remember though, doggy might have allowed an hour of tail tugging fun yesterday afternoon, but tonight it is ten minutes tops, so watch closely.

Dogs will for the most part whine or growl a bit as a warning that you should get your "puppy" and get it now, cats are not so kind. Sticky fingered toddlers mushing cookies into his fur will get a nice healthy swat from puss, and not always with the sheathed claws. Some cats are nearly saint-like, but others have very low toddler/small child thresholds, so make sure that your cat can get away before he feels the need to draw kiddy blood.

Some pets are poor choices if you have children, even if the child would not be handling the pet. These include snakes, spiders and any other type of creepy crawly that could escape from their cage and bite, or worse, be bitten. Yes, children put everything, including spiders into their mouths, so keep that in mind. Large snakes have been known to view small children as prey sources, so use the utmost of caution if you absolutely must own them.