Many people have pets, be it cats, dogs, hamsters, rabbits, lizards, birds or fish to name a few, and equally, lots of people do not have a pet. Some people have never had a pet and others will have grown up with one, another member of the family, a hairy one, one that makes strange noises, a scaly one or talkative one, but whatever pet it is ultimately it relies on you to feed it and look after it. Still, at the same time, it brings you so much joy and happiness. If you’re not from a family who had pets, it’s very easy to dismiss the benefits because what you don’t know, you can’t miss. However, if you’re considering getting a pet, here are a few reasons why it’s an excellent idea for your family and children. There are so many benefits to having a furry friend as part of the family, and it’s not just that they don’t answer back; studies have shown the impact of pets on reducing stress, providing social support and companionship, and improving children’s communication skills too. All of these are great reasons why if you do decide to get a pet, you should take as much care of your furry friend as possible. You can make sure they’ll be taken care of by getting pet insurance from companies like Bivvy.
Pets are often linked to the psychological well-being of children, and according to this review of 22 studies, there is a positive impact of companion animals on child development. While there are some mixed findings, the authors have all concluded that growing up with pets is linked to higher self-esteem, cognitive development, and social skills.
Children raised in families with pets were also reported by their parents to have better general health, to be more obedient, to be more physically active, to be less moody, to have fewer behaviour problems and to have fewer learning problems.
So, If your little one is always begging you to get a pet and has even been looking on an online pet shop then perhaps it’s time to consider this as pets are brilliant for teaching them valuable life lessons as well.
Responsibility
One of the main reasons that many people get pets is to teach their children the important life skill of responsibility. Pets need to eat, they need to drink, they need to be loved, many of them need exercise, they need grooming, possibly taking to the toilet or having their cage or litter tray cleaned out. You can give your children the appropriate responsibilities in regards to taking care of the pet, and these can develop as your children grow with your pet. When they are very little, you can teach them to do small jobs, but they’ll learn that someone needs to feed the animal just like children need to be fed too. You’ll have to monitor little ones at first and but over time as they learn which jobs they need to do and they learn how to look after their pet, looking after something, or someone else, as well as themselves, will become second nature to them. Of course, it’s one of the conditions that parents always say before getting a pet. Then they still end up looking after them, and while it might take a lot of effort initially to get it as part of your child’s routine, like anything else you try to get them to do if you persevere, you will eventually get there.
Trust
Children learn about trust from having a pet because a pet offers unconditional support when a child is sad, angry or upset. Children and pets also have so much fun together. Whether it’s playing on the floor at home, going for walks, playing with toys or even just your child chatting to them, there’s always something to play and having a pet can teach your child to trust them themselves and also help your child to build trust in other relationships as well.
Health
A study by Dennis Ownby, MD, who is a pediatrician and head of the allergy and immunology department of the Medical College of Georgia, in Augusta, showed that having multiple pets decreases a child’s risk of developing specific allergies. His research looked at a group of 474 babies from birth to about the age of seven, and he found that the children who were exposed to two or more dogs or cats as babies were less than half as likely to develop common allergies as the children who had no pets in the house. Children who had pets also had fewer positive skin tests to indoor allergens such as pet and dust-mite allergens, as well as outdoor allergens such as ragweed and grass. Other studies have suggested that early exposure to pets may decrease a child’s risk of developing asthma.
Compassion and Nurturing
Compassion is another life skill that pets can help your children develop. When a child takes care of an animal, they can’t help but learn to be kind to others because they’re taking care of their essential needs. It is not necessary that the pet can be a cat or a dog only. There are people who like horses. Whatever pet you keep, you should make sure to take good care of their health. It has been found that CBD oil has many benefits for animals too. cbdschool has good information on it. Teach your kids how they can take care of the pets.
Another study by Gail F. Melson, PhD, professor emeritus of developmental studies at Purdue University, in Indiana, and the author of Why the Wild Things Are: Animals in the Lives of Children looked at the impact of pets to learn how human beings develop the ability to care for others, she said: “Nurturing isn’t a quality that suddenly appears in adulthood when we need it, and you don’t learn to nurture because you were nurtured as a child. People need a way to practice being caregivers when they’re young.”
Today, there is minimal opportunity for kids to provide for other living things aside from pets, and Dr Melson believes that the seeds of excellent parenting skills are planted during childhood through having pets. In her research, she looked at how much time kids over age three spent actively caring for their pets versus caring for or even playing with younger siblings. Over 24 hours, the children who owned pets spent 10.3 minutes in caregiving; those with younger siblings spent only 2.4 minutes. Dr Melson added: “Nurturing animals is especially important for boys because taking care of an animal isn’t seen as a ‘girl’ thing like babysitting, playing house, or playing with dolls.” She states that girls are more likely to be involved than boys in baby care both inside and outside their homes, but when it comes to pet care, both genders remain equally involved.
As well as this, when the family pet passes away, unfortunately, your child will learn about death and the grieving process, which is something you may not want them to go through, but it is part of life and is better that they learn this way.
Education
Mary Renck Jalongo, PhD, an education professor at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and author of The World of Children and Their Companion Animals also says that educators have been bringing therapy animals into schools for a long time as it helps developmentally challenged kids to learn. They are now finding that all children can benefit from the presence of a nonjudgmental furry friend. In one study, children were asked to read in front of a friend, an adult, and a dog and the researchers monitored the stress levels and found that children were most relaxed around the animal, not the humans. Plenty of kids curl up with their pet and read to them, it’s a great way to get them into reading, and the pets seem to love it too.
Respect
Having a pet means that children need to learn about being gentle and giving someone their boundaries, for example, when the pet is eating and sleeping. This helps to teach children about having respect for others, which can be a difficult skill to learn at a young age, but when it’s their pet, they love so much it’s easy.
Patience
Bonding with a pet can sometimes take time, so this can teach your child to have patience. As well as this, they will need to have patience when trying to teach their pet to sit, stay, give paw, rollover, and any other good behaviour. Your children will need lots of patience to try and train an animal, but again because it’s their friend, they don’t mind so much.
Self-esteem
Pets show their owner’s unconditional love, and we love that and we lover them for it. Being greeted with a loving pet each day can really boost a child’s self-esteem. Also, having responsibilities for a pet develops self-esteem in young children.
Loyalty
Pets are very loyal and an excellent example of how to treat others that are important to the child and family.
…And A Boost Their Immune System
Research also shows that children who have a pet a dog can have fewer ear infections and respiratory tract infections and require fewer antibiotics because the exposure to animals at a young age stimulates the immune system.
If you’re thinking about which pet to add to your family, pick one that fits your lifestyle. A fish, turtle or hamster will require less attention and care than a cat or dog and if you and your family travel a lot, then maybe it would be a good choice to have an animal that can be left at home with minimal care. However, if you love going on long walks and play in the garden, then a dog may be a perfect fit.
