Teaching children the responsibility of caring for pets – Part 8

Deciding to bring a pet in to the home when you have children can be a daunting thought, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Children can be taught the responsibilities of caring for a pet whether the pet is as small as a goldfish, or as big as a dog. There are basic rules you will have to explain to your child in regards to pet care, no matter what pet you have decided upon getting.

Firstly, explain the basics of what your pet will need to survive. Discuss before even having the pet in your home the responsibility your child will have in regards to caring for your family pet. Be sure your child understands your pets eating habits, how much to feed, when to feed your pet, and what your pet can and cannot eat. Your child may find it fun to feed the pet, and make sure the water supply is kept up to date.

Your child should also be aware that the environment for the pet should be clean. Such as, a hamster cage needs to be cleaned on a regular basis, if you have decided on a puppy there will be a few messes to clean up. Compromise with your child, tell them if you clean up the pet mess, they are responsible for feeding and giving water. It can also be a joint effort if the pet is a dog to take the dog on walks together.

Keeping a pet is a worthwhile experience for a child, but a responsible one too, that shouldn’t be taken lightly before making the decision to have a pet. Talk to your child about all the responsibilities for the pet, and be sure to emphasize that these chores and responsibilities will be an ongoing experience, not just a passing fad.

Remind your child when each task has to be done with the pet. Very young children will not be able to do a lot of the things a pet requires, so an older child will be more suitable for caring for a pet. Stress that the pet will be the childs responsibility, but be prepared to take over if your child isn’t doing what should be done. The best way to teach your child the responsibility of caring for a pet is to talk about all the aspects involved in pet ownership. Show your child how to care for the pet, and the best way to behave while around pets, before you know it your child and pet will be living in perfect harmony.

Teaching children the responsibility of caring for pets – Part 9

As with most things pet care is a chore, so to get your child to do it more willingly, make it fun for both the kids and the pets. giving the family dog a bath was not much fun but i recall my mother’s solution, she would fill a small plastic pool (like the ones you buy at Wal-mart) with water and tell us all to jump in. Our family dog loved playing with us in the pool so it was no big leap for mom to just give us 6 kids some shampoo and tell us to pet the dog, well 6 kids and a big wet dog got real sudsy real fast and with a little spray from the garden hose Mom would have 6 clean kids and a better smelling dog.

Feeding time at our house with 6 kids, 14 rabbits, 6 cats, a pony, and a bottle calf, plus a whole flock of chickens, geese, ducks and a turkey or two, was hectic to say the least. But mom never had a shortage of helpings hands to take care of the chores. my mother sat us all down and explained how the responsibility of taking care of our animals was the things that we had to do to have the joy that our animals brought us everyday we were blessed to have their company. We all enjoyed our animal friends very much, and we were more than happy to make sure that our pets were happy and in good health building compassion and responsibility, for well rounded adults.

Teaching children the responsibility of caring for pets – Part 13

Have your kids asked you the two age old questions. Can we keep it? Can we have one of those? How do you explain to your children the responsibilities of caring for an animal?

Many parents start off by hesitating and have a nervous feeling about their children be responsible for something other than homework or chores. Depending on the age of the child this is a major step in the direction of setting up responsibilities that will teach them how to care for a living creature that needs attention and love. Parents need to remind the children how to care for a pet by explaining to them the duties they would have to do in order to care for whatever animal they decide to get. Often it is explained that they have to love and play with them as if they would with their siblings. A pet is in more ways than one like a baby if you get a pup or a kitten and such of the like. You have to love, pay attention, feed, and play with it to gain and keep a bond with the animal. They depend on you to care for them and often become sad pets if they are not looked after properly. They have feeling just as humans do.

When your child is ready to own a pet, set a schedule of when they are to care for the animals necessities such as feeding, grooming, etc. that will revolve around normal chore work around the house. When the child takes out the garbage, use that time for the child to feed the pet if it is kept outside. When the child goes out to play, have them take the pet with them so there is play time between the child and pet. There is no set way to explain to your children the responsibility of taking care of an animal. There will always be kinks in the road when the child wants to ride the pet like a pony or grab their tail to see what will happen. It is part of the learning experience. Helping your child to understand the basics of caring for a pet will build them a better stepping stone that will enable them to love and care for others as they grow older.

Training your cat is possible! – Part 20

Training your cat is not only possible, but fun for you and your cat. It provides mental stimulation for your pet, better communication between you, and makes unpleasant cat care chores go more smoothly.

One of the easiest things to teach a cat is to come when called. It is said that felines do not reliably answer your call, but everyone knows that they will reliably answer the can opener. If you call them for dinner, they will come. If you start calling them at other times, use a treat to reward them. A small treat is best, because they can get full and lose interest, or gain a lot of weight! For reliability, become unreliable yourself. Intermittent reinforcement works better than consistent reinforcement, because the animal will try harder for its reward. Also, with a cat, they are very curious-if they sometimes get a food treat and at other times a toy, they will come just out of curiosity. If you call them and have your head stuck under the couch as if you have just seen a mouse, they will definitely show up next time just to see what you’re up to!

After they come when called, you can teach them to sit before receiving their reward. Wait for them to sit by themselves. You can teach a sit, or other action, by gently pushing the animal into position, but it clicks in their mind faster if the action was voluntary-if it’s involuntary they are likely to think they are being rewarded for having their hindquarters pushed down. Cats can learn to do any of their natural actions on command-climbing, jumping onto a surface or through a hoop, or tightrope walking. Lead them through the action with a toy, such as a feather on a stick, or with a treat in hand, and reward them when they have performed it. Practice about five or ten minutes a day.

Training can be used to smooth over unpleasant chores, such as trimming claws. Put the treat bag in sight while holding the cat and cutting the nails, and give rewards when the animal is calm and cooperative. Gradually reduce them until they get a reward at the end of the session. It works if the cat hates being brushed, too.

Do not be too loud, excited or corrective during any of your training sessions, or the cat will run away and hide.

Have fun and think about ways to interest your cat, and you can teach tricks that will amaze even cat lovers.