Children and Pets: How to Have a Harmonious Household
Children and pets often form amazing relationships, as they essentially grow up together! As a parent or carer, you’ll often find your child asking you for a pet at some point, and that’s because most children are obsessed with the idea of a new furry friend in your home.
We understand that many parents are wary about introducing an animal to their children, particularly around babies and toddlers. However, we’re aiming to put your mind at ease, and reassure you that by being a responsible owner, and parent, your pet should have no issue settling into their new family home.
In an ideal world, your children and pets are best friends - and with the right care, that is definitely attainable. That’s why we’re informing families on how to ensure your children and pets get along in a harmonious household, and the actions to take if at first they don’t get along.
Things to Consider Beforehand
If you’ve not yet got your new pet, it’s worthwhile taking a few precautions before you bring them to your family home. It’s vital to ensure that you’re prepared, so that your child’s safety is best taken care of, and that you’re ready to start introducing them to one another.
Selecting Your Pet
Ensuring a harmonious household starts with a child-friendly pet selection. While each pet is different in personality, it is not advisable to bring a notoriously aggressive, or misbehaved breed to your family home. We would always advise that you go to meet with the pet first to understand its behaviour before bringing it home, emphasised where small children are involved.
We’d always advise researching the breeds and species that are reputedly good with children, so that you can give your children and pets the best chance of bonding. If you’re looking at bringing a dog to your home, check out our previous blog to discover the top five best dog breeds for families.
Preparing Your Home
Another precaution you’ll need to take is to prepare your home to ensure both your child, and your pet, are able to be separated. Small children should never be left unsupervised around pets, and your pet should not be able to access your child without your permission. If your children are a little older, it’s also important to factor the dog’s wellbeing, you should also give your pet a safe space to retreat to in the chance they feel overwhelmed.
Additionally, you’ll need to make sure your pet is equipped with a durable tag to keep them safe on their adventures, especially to comply with the legal requirements regarding dogs. If you’re looking to choose aesthetics, paired with durability, explore our range of brass dog tags here.
Considering Temperaments
The way that you introduce your new pet will depend on many variables, such as: age, breed, species, weight, and energy level - and even the age of your child. You should take each of these factors into consideration when allowing your pet to interact with your child.
You should also do some research into your pet’s body language, as this will help you understand any signs your pet shows, whether that be positive or negative, helping you gauge their interactions. If you’re looking to get a dog, check out this article by the Dog’s Trust on How to Understand Your Dog’s Body Language.
Introducing Your Children and Pets
Now that you’ve laid the groundwork, it’s time to introduce your children and pets to each other! Just make sure that you’re ready to do so in a safe, controlled manner. Not to worry, we’re here to help.
Establishing Boundaries
It’s vital to ensure that you set the tone as you mean to go on. The first stages of interaction between children and pets are the most vital for both of them, and you must ensure that boundaries are in place. If your child is old enough, you should teach them to be respectful to the pet, ensuring that they’re gentle, and do not agitate the animal.
Pets will also need to learn that they aren’t allowed to overstep their mark. You should teach your pet basic commands and boundaries, ensuring that you’re able to recall them in the case they act out of line.
Early Socialisation
If you’re now ready to introduce your children and pets, it’s important to ensure you’re in control, and that their first meetings are brief, and heavily monitored. It’s important to remember that you can’t rush introductions, ensure you’re patient, and that their first interactions are gradual as trust needs to be built.
For pets, being exposed to children at a young age is vital in ensuring they’re comfortable around them, as pets can struggle to adapt to children without that early exposure. You should make sure that the first meetings between your child and your pet are non-contact - let your pet sniff around and be curious about the child, and keep a close eye on your pet’s body language. Hissing, growling, tucked tails, or flattened ears are the key warning signs to look out for.
Positive Reinforcement
Reward good behaviour on both sides! These interactions should be positive, heartwarming, and rewarding for you as an owner and parent. Make sure to keep the sessions brief and enjoyable, and make sure to show love to your pet, and child for good behaviour.
Particularly for your pet, it’s worthwhile giving them a treat as and when they interact positively with your child. Positive reinforcement is an excellent way of showing your pet that they are behaving the right way, giving them incentive to be well behaved, and they will naturally see your child as a beneficial thing for them - that’s how bonds are built!
Potential Challenges
While you may not experience these issues or challenges at all, it is always important to be aware of any potential challenges that may arise when introducing children and pets. Whether you’re experiencing these problems already, or you’re looking to prevent these issues arising, we’re here to help.
Jealousy and Competition
Another common occurrence that you may need to look out for is that your pet can become jealous of your child. This is because they may see them as competition, and that they feel that your attention is going to be diverted away from them.
Equality and consistency is key. You should ensure that your pet and your child are treated equally, and you should make it your best effort to maintain your pet’s routine as much as possible, whilst also ensuring you’re taking care of the needs of your child.
Rough Play
Sometimes, play time can get too intense, and it is your responsibility to make sure that it is controlled. If the child, or the pet, are being too rough with one another, you should make sure that they are made aware that what they are doing is wrong, and that you ensure discipline for both of them.
It is most likely that rough play is not the result of bad intentions, it is often the result of overexcitement. If your pet, or child cannot be trusted to play safely, it may be worth distancing the two in order to make sure that none of them get hurt. If this carries on, you may need to consult a child psychologist or animal behaviourist.
Fear to Overcome
Perhaps the biggest step you may have to overcome is fear, or timidness. New things can be daunting for both children and for pets. If you’ve found that either party is very fearful, and is refusing to interact with the other, you should make sure you take things extremely slow, as they will likely warm up to each other in time.
If this issue seems to stick, we would recommend seeking professional help, consulting your vet first.
Moving Forward
Now that introductions have been made, and your children and pets are more acquainted with one another, it’s time to make that friendship even stronger!
Increase Your Child’s Responsibilities
Providing that they’re the right age, you should get your child more involved in caring for your pet, so that they naturally start to spend more time with each other. If you allow them to help with feeding, grooming, playing, or walking your pet with you, then your child and pet will inevitably be closer to one another, creating that inseparable bond!
Lead By Example
Your pet, and your child are constantly watching and learning from you. Keep up good habits, and demonstrate excellent behaviour and care around them both. You should ensure respect, and fairness to your pet and your child.
Dedicated Playtime
You should allow positive interactions to continue, encouraging dedicated play times for your child and your pet. Fetch, gentle toy games, or simple bonding time on the sofa are excellent ways to promote a harmonious household.
Make sure to remember to supervise your pet, and your child at all times, especially when you have younger children. While you may trust your child and your pet to be responsible around one another as time goes on, you must make sure that they’re not left alone with one another, in the case of unpredictable behaviour.
Summary
Now that you’re ready to create a harmonious relationship between your children and pets, it’s time to start planning your adventures! If you’re looking to bring a dog, or even a cat to your family home, it is crucial to remember that they will need to be equipped with a legible tag built to endure each of their adventures - especially ensuring you’re compliant with the Control of Dogs Order 1992.
If you’re looking for a tag designed with durability, paired with beauty, our brass tags, or reinforced tags will make the perfect addition to your pet’s collar. We craft our tags to ensure that your pet remains clearly identifiable through all their adventures for years to come, ensuring excellent legibility throughout every adventure.
To learn more about how to keep children safe around pets, visit the NHS’s website for more - click here.