Teaching kids respect, responsibility with pets

If you have children, welcoming an animal into your home is an opportunity to teach your children respect for animals, as well as responsibility. That being said, I can't keep track of the amount of parents who have claimed they're adopting a pet specifically to teach their 3-year-old responsibility. They are the same parents that will return the animal to the shelter within the year because their child didn't take care of it.
Responsibility is definitely an aspect of pet ownership, but teaching your child to be responsible cannot be the only reason you are bringing an animal into your home. It's important to have realistic expectations about what your child will learn from having a pet and exactly how much he will be responsible for when it comes to your pet's care. What's great about children and pets, though, is that your child can start learning respect for animals at a very young age and, as he grows up, he can learn increasingly greater responsibilities.

Here are just a few of the ways you can help our child learn respect for animals at a young age and transition to more responsibilities as he gets older.

Learn Pet Body Language

One of the most important things to teach your children about animals is an understanding of their body language. If there's one thing I've learned over the past 8 years working at the shelter, it's that even adults can use a refresher on understanding when an animals is saying, "Please don't touch me!" Some cues, like hissing and growling, make it obvious that an animal does not want your attention, but other cues, like a cat holding its ears back or a dog shying away, may be less obvious to a child. Beyond teaching your child to recognize a pet's body language, children must also learn to respect that body language and not push an animal any further. Unfortunately, many injuries have occurred simply because a child (or adult!) has ignored the warning signs from an animal that it did not want to be touched.

Respect an Animal's Space

Every animal is individual, and that means each one feels differently about affection and their personal space. If you have a friendly and affectionate animal at home, it can be hard for your child to understand that other animals may not behave the same way. While your dog may not mind being hugged, your neighbor's dog might feel differently. The same goes for what areas each animal likes to be touched. While my office cat loves to have her belly rubbed, my cat at home would bite me if I tried to touch her there. Unfortunately, a child innocently putting his face into a dog's face can be incredibly dangerous, and that's how many accidents happen. It's crucial to educate children about boundaries with animals to prevent injuries.

Safe Greeting

At CVHS, we offer free humane education programs to groups of all ages, from pre-school children to retirement homes. Although the content of our presentations change for each group, one component stays the same: how to safely greet a dog. Similar to respecting an animal's space, children need to learn the safest way to approach an animal, which includes asking permission to pet an animal and then letting that animal sniff them prior to petting them under the chin or on the back. As part of learning to safely greet an animal, it's important for children to also learn that they should never startle an animal, such as petting them while they are sleeping.

Routine Care

The day-to-day care for a pet is a great way to teach children responsibility as well as to help them learn about an animal's basic needs. Your child may be too young to help take your dog for a walk, but he can learn your pet needs a certain amount of food every day. In fact, feeding is one of the easiest ways to get your child involved in caring for your pet. As he gets older, he can help with walks, litter box cleaning, and bathing. Getting your child involved with your pet's day-to-day care makes it clear how much work is involved with owning a pet.

Mastering the Basics

A great way to teach kids responsibility with pets is to have them invest time and energy into training their pet. Training will not only help your child and pet bond, it will teach your child patience and consistency. Additionally, training is something that will grow with your child and pet. When your child is younger, he can work on simple basic commands like "sit" and "stay". As your child gets older, he can expand your dog's training to more elaborate commands, tricks, and even agility.

Ultimately, it's most important to remember that it's not the pet that will help your child learn responsibility, it's you. If your child is overwhelmed with the new responsibilities and you return an animal because your child "no longer takes care of it", the only thing you will have successfully shown your child is that pets are throw away items instead of commitments. Rather than assigning the entire responsibility of caring for a pet to your child, set realistic and age-appropriate expectations that can expand as your child gets older.

Alaina Goodnough is the Promotions Coordinator at Cocheco Valley Humane Society in Dover, NH. She lives in Sanford, ME with two parrots, a cockatoo, a cat, and two dachshunds. She can be reached at CVHS at devassist@cvhsonline.org. To learn more about Cocheco Valley Humane Society, go to www.cvhsonline.org or call 603-749-5322.