Children and Pets
A special bond has always existed between children and animals. When we were young, a majority of us had some type of pet and we enjoy watching as other children enjoy our pets nowadays.
The relationship between dogs and children can be developed at best when the dog is between the age of 5 weeks and months as long as you don’t have a dog that doesn’t like kids, which is possible with some dogs. It is however never too late to change a dog’s unfriendly attitude towards children as it can be trained to be child-friendly.
To start the socialization process, make sure you tell your kids to gradually play with the dog or puppy and to bring over their friends to further teach the dog or puppy on how to be friendly with kids. If you are yet to have any kids, you can invite the kids in your neighborhood over to interact with your dog or puppy.
Ensure that you use the natural pack instincts of your dog to the maximum meaning that all human race members, including kids, are above the dog when it comes to the “pack” hierarchy. For example, always insist on the child making an entrance to or an exit from a room before a dog or puppy, make sure you feed the child [and the family] before you feed the dog or puppy and also ensure that the child is confident enough to conveniently pet the dog or puppy. It also makes a great deal of sense to invite children to play with the dog or puppy irrespective of their age.
We should also teach the kids to respect the fact that the pet is a loving creature rather than a toy. Grabbing things away from the pet should not be tolerated at all from the kids in addition to the fact that they should always be gentle, most especially with little kittens and puppies.
Finally, it is of utmost importance that adults should never leave a child alone with a pet as they should always be under adult supervision.