Cildren and pets. At some time they will ask, and sometimes the pet is there first. Are pets good for kids? Are they bad? How do you mix them if the pet is there first? Pets are a great thing for kids. They do a lot to help kids learn responsibility, and how to introduce themselves to animals in the future. We personally are waiting until our first can ask for a pet before we bring one into the house. At that time she will at least know what is going on. We also hope to have a second child by that time and hope this this allows the children to have leadership over the pet and not eachother. The younger sibling will also have something in the house that is lower on the food chain than they are. If you already have a pet by all means it is a part of the family as well, the key to remember though is that you and the child are the leaders, the pet is just that, a pet. It should never be the alpha in the family!

Currently we utilize our friend's dogs to teach our daughter how to introduce herself to a dog, how to pet them, not to go near them when they are eating. The standard rules. Many of our friends don't have children yet, and they constantly ask us when we are getting a dog because our daughter is so good with them. While she maybe ready, I definitely am not!

As parents one of the first things we will have to do when chosing a pet is make sure to pet it everywhere and make sure that it can handle this. Some dogs are just more adapted to this type of behaviour which is the kind you want. You also want to make sure that the animal is accustomed to being petted everywhere prior to introduction to the rest of the family members. This will help when the kids pet it's ears or paws it does not freak out.

Animals are amazing additions to a family but make sure that you have time for them. If you have a dog for example it HAS to be walked every day. If you are not prepared to take on the responsibility don't do that to the animal or yourself. Remember the kids are not going to be the ones to walk, feed, medicate, bathe, etc. They will at times don't get me wrong, but not with the consistency a pet requires, espically when either or both are young.

Children are a lot of work themselves, make sure before you add an additional being to the family dynamic that you are ready. As I said above, while our daughter is more than ready for a pet, I am not!