How To Prepare Your Children For Their First Pet

Today’s post is all about how to prepare your children for their first pet in a safe and efficient way; because despite the initial difficulty of the task… introducing a dog, cat, or animal into your home can offer many unique benefits to your family. And most of all, to your kids.

In fact, having a pet can actually aid children’s development in many different ways. It can teach them responsibility and empathy. And can also support their emotional and mental wellbeing, since pets are known to be a comforting presence.

But one area where it’s easy to go wrong, is introducing a pet into the family before your kids are ready for one. A mistake that can be easily avoided with a little bit of preparation beforehand.

So today we’ll be discussing some simple methods to get your children ready for the newest addition to your family!

Involve Your Kids From The Very Beginning

One great way to prepare your children for a new pet, is to let them be involved with the setup that it requires. Such as creating an area for the new pet, choosing the items it will need, and
potentially, even picking out the pet itself.

This will allow them to become familiar with the different things that will be associated with your new little family member! As well as get used to which area of the house belongs to it. 

And if you have smaller kids then you can even take the opportunity to specify that during certain times of the day, they shouldn’t enter that space. Such as when the pet is trying to sleep or eat. (Since these two occurrences are some of the times where animals are most likely to bite if they’re startled.)

Plus, picking out the items that your pet will need can simply be a really fun experience for kids! And it can help them feel more responsible for the pet even before it arrives, since they’ll feel as though they already helped.

Teach Your Child How To Act Around The Pet Ahead of Time

Before your new pet ever enters your home, you’re going to need to teach your child how to interact with it. Especially if they don’t have much experience with animals yet.

For instance, if you’re getting a dog then you’ll need to explain to your kids that they shouldn’t bother it when it’s eating. That they should pay attention to its body language before interacting with it. They shouldn’t play too rough with it, and so on.

For a cat, much of the same tips still apply. Because even though cats aren’t as prone to bite, they are known to scratch if provoked. Or even begin to run away and hide if they’ve been frightened.

Even if you’re getting something like a fish, you should still make sure to lay down some ground rules for your kids. For example, you may need to explain to younger kids that they can’t pull a fish out of its tank.

Show Your Child How To Take Care Of The New Pet

As I mentioned earlier on, one of the main reasons why parents get their children pets is so that they can learn how to take care of something else and build responsibility. So the next step in preparing your kids for the new pet’s arrival is to teach them how the animal will need to be taken care of.

Show them how to feed it, water it, exercise it, clean up after it, etc. You can use videos on the internet to do this, or you could even buy an instructional book to read to your kids. Such as… this activity book, which will teach kids how to take care of a dog. Or this activity book that will
teach kids how to take care of a cat.

Then, after you’ve shown your child what they need to do in order to take care of the pet, give them age-appropriate responsibilities. You could even make a chore chart of sorts, except with pet-related duties.

Younger kids might need some assistance from you to complete their tasks, but it will still teach them responsibility. And older kids could handle a bit more on their own, such as walking a dog or cleaning out a cat’s litter box.

Find Ways To Expose Them To Animals Beforehand

I remember when I was getting my daughters their first puppy, neither one of them had much experience around dogs. I didn’t want them to be hesitant or afraid when they met their new pet, so I made sure to take them to see several of my friend’s dogs beforehand. 

They met a litter of lab puppies, played a bit with a Shih Tzu, and slowly started to come out of their shell where dogs were concerned. Which set them up perfectly to enjoy the experience of getting a new pet!

But another tactic I used to see if they were ready was getting them a robotic puppy to play with. At the time of course, toy pets weren’t as advanced as they are now. But the girls took the “puppies” everywhere, and I could soon see that they’d make great little dog moms.

So I really suggest trying this with your own kids, because it’s a great way to prepare them for having a pet and these robotic pets make great gifts! (And, they’ve gotten a lot more realistic since I bought my daughters’ theirs.)

This lifelike golden retriever puppy responds to your voice and makes movements that closely resemble a real dog, and this realistic orange tabby cat even purrs when you pet it! Plus, there are plenty of other options online as well. Such as this remote- controlled, robot dog that follows you around!

And Finally, Make Sure To Monitor Your Children When They First Begin To Interact With The New Pet

Even if you do make sure to prepare your kids for getting a pet beforehand, it’s still wise to keep an eye on the first few interactions. Especially if you’re dealing with younger kids.

So just keep an eye on things. And make sure that you correct any unwanted behaviors right away. Because this is the best way to keep your kids happy and safe around the pet. And also keep your new pet happy and safe around your children.