3 Steps to Take When Introducing a New Pet at Home
Introducing your child to your pet can be challenging no matter what age. You want your child to be comfortable around animals, particularly ones they interact with daily. While we train our pets, we should take time to teach our children the boundaries that animals may have. Teaching them love, respect, and how to properly care for a pet is important for any child. Here are some tips that can help during this process:
Play with stuffed animals
This is the best form of practice before you adopt your pet. Stuffed animals are the perfect way to teach your child how to respect an animal. You can practice how to softly pet a dog or cat, where not to touch them, how to hug them, and how to feed them. Like any living animal, they also have feelings and need space to adjust to their environment.
Image of Milo + Niko book
Teach your child about your pet’s needs
A pet is a huge responsibility and children need to understand this. They need to play, be fed, walked, and washed. Your little one may not know this and teaching them about your pet’s basic needs can help. Creating a routine for them can allow them to realize the importance of caring for a pet. Just like food, pets also need love, which is another lesson to teach your child. They need to learn that doing these daily tasks are ways we show we care.
Incorporate them in the training process
When training your pet, it may be wise to have your child teach them as well. Pets and children need to form a friendship, and your pet will realize the important relationship if they participate in the training process. Have your child follow along when you teach them commands or when you’re walking your pet. The respect for you will also be implied for your child. Animals are animals and they are unpredictable. However, they need mutual respect to form a friendship. If you plan to keep pets in your household, this is important for you and your child.
Image of Sana, sana book
Pets help children understand a relationship with love and respect. They can teach them kindness, carefulness, and friendship. While many people choose to not own pets, it is important for your child to acknowledge the respect towards all living things.
To read more about children and pet friendships read our bilingual books, Sana, sana colita de rana and Milo + Niko!
Sana, sana, colita de rana follows Tina in her quest to become an aspiring Mexican wrestler, alongside her plush sidekick, Mr. Frog. After she suffers a boo-boo, Tina is made fun of by her brother. Her ouchie makes her want to quit, but it is up to her to face her fear of being injured again and return to the wrestling ring on her own, and just like the song encourages – no matter how bad things get, today or tomorrow will always be better!
Milo, an energetic girl confined to Abuelita’s plant shop, spends her time roaming the aisles and checking out knickknacks. She finds that she isn’t alone – a Bengal tiger is loose in the shop! Together, after earning each other’s trust, they delve into the deep, dark rainforest of plants and head to their first of many adventures.
Do you know that pet flamingos have a list of rules for their care that you must follow? It's no mistake that pet flamingos love the color pink and dislike the snow. Or that their favorite treat is horchata with quesadillas. Anyone can foster a friendship with their newly discovered pet flamingo. But it's only those that follow the unwritten rules who will find their pet flamingo always by their side.
