Natalie Sorokopud: Mom, I want a dog. How to please your child and avoid problems

Illustrator Viacheslav Smorodin

Cover designer Aleksandr Zhukov

© Natalie Sorokopud, 2018

© Viacheslav Smorodin, illustrations, 2018

© Aleksandr Zhukov, cover design, 2018

ISBN 978-5-4490-4201-9

Created with Ridero smart publishing system

What emotions do you have when you think about having a pet?

For many parents such combination as children and pets is a very complicated issue. On one hand positive influence of communication with animals on kids is huge: it is no secret that children who have pets learn to be responsible more easily. For example, boys and girls learn to clean after a cat, feed a guinea pig or walk a dog, and as a result youngsters acquire a higher level of responsibility.

In 2011 the UK’s largest dog welfare charity Dogs Trust has conducted a research that showed that communication with dogs stimulate children who have difficulties in development, it decreases possibility of having allergies, asthma and eczema; it lessens depression and improves mental health. In any case a child receives more positive emotions because the excitement that your son or daughter gets while playing with an animal cannot be compared to anything else.

On the other hand any parent in the first place thinks about the problems that might occur in their way, problems that might wait at home every day. I think that all mothers and fathers either way fear that despite of the child’s promises to care about a pet on his own: to feed, walk, clean and train, – in fact most of these becomes a duty of parents, mostly on the mother because fathers more often are strong enough to say “no”. Although sometimes we also meet very patient fathers who are ready to take this responsibility. Thus parents have not only a child to care, but also a pet.

Certainly such risk exists and it is always rather big. However here everything depends on how much you as a parent will let your child manipulate you. At the very beginning the kid wants and will take care about your pet. During first couple of days your kid will zealously walk the dog, proudly clean after the cat, keenly feed them. Often in some time this enthusiasm disappears, the small pet owner doesn’t want to wake up early in the morning to walk the dog or feed the cat. That is why it is vitally important in the very beginning to have a conversation with your child and discuss what would your pet need from its owner, what would happen if your son or daughter do not do it. The majority of such questions are mentioned in the present book. The most important thing is that the kid should understand, not only listen to a lecture about what he or she should do as a responsible pet owner. The best way is to ask leading questions so that your junior enumerated what this particular animal needs, how often, in what value, how much it would cost to his parents and if it is worth it.

You can hold this conversation in the form of a game. Give your child a task to find answers to the following question (using the internet, books, journals, asking a vet or a shop assistant in a pet shop, or a volunteer of a local animal welfare organization). When your boy or your girl find the answers to these questions on their own (possibly with a small help from your side), they will have much more motivation to take care about their pet in future.

Here are the major questions for such task:

– What a dog (cat, hamster… the animal that you are going to have as a pet) should eat and what will be unhealthy or poisonous for it?

– How much food will this animal need per day?

– How much money will you need to spend of food for this animal?

– What conditions (temperature, space, rest time, exercise, games, communication) does this species need?

– What kind of grooming (bath, combing, toilet specifics, cat trees, etc.) does your future pet need?

– What kind of training (toilet training for cats, walking for a dog, going on a lead, commands, teaching to sharpen claws and teeth only in certain places) does it need?

– What procedures will be necessary (spay or neuter, regular anti flea and anti worm treatment, vaccination)?

If your child is already not too small, he or she can take these two questions as well:

– Where are the nearest vet clinics? Take their contact details.

– What legal rules regulate keeping pets in your town?

It is very important for the kid to find the answers to these questions with minimal participation from your side. It will be a good motivation and this way the information will be kept in the memory for a longer time.

Fortunately these days more and more people take a responsible approach to the issue of having a pet. Millions of people have stopped perceiving an animal as a status symbol of a toy, and have started to treat animals as living beings with its feelings and needs. This tendency means that our society makes a big step toward harmonic coexistence with other people and the nature.

This book summarizes the main issues of concern to pet owners. After reading it you will be able to clearly understand whether you need it all, if you can provide comfort to the animal, and a comfortable life for yourself, or you would better not start it.

Most of people believe that anyone can manage caring for a pet, and if not you can always give it away or abandon it. But I am sure that this book is read by responsible people who having taken care of a living being, will remain with it forever, and reach great results in its upbringing and harmonious life with it. And I will do my best to give you enough information for it.

When we speak about the age of an animal many people even do not have such question “What age should be the animal?” The vast majority will say without thinking: “I want a small kitten!” or “I want a small puppy!”. These people are sure that the smaller the animal the better. Everybody wants only small animals. Everyone has different reasons, like “It is so sweet, this fluffy creature, it is so cute, when it is small”. The second most popular reason is “We need to take an animal when it is small for it to get used to us”.

These two reasons are the main ones why people take animals of young age. Regarding the second reason I would like to share my own opinion with you. I have experience with bringing up animals that came to me in older or even senior age, and I can assure you there is no difference if a young animal will be getting used to you or a senior one. Adaptation period does not depend on age. It depends on mental state and the individual characteristics of each individual animal. Adaptation period will be necessary in any case whether it is like a little kitten or an adult cat, a little puppy or an adult dog.

As for the first mentioned reason, yes, the reason to have a cute small fluffy creature is very convincing but have you ever wondered about statistics? Figures given by animal protection societies of Europe say that many animals were abandoned or placed in shelters because they grew up and stopped being so nice cute fluffies, they became adults, and their owners didn’t need them anymore because the animals are no longer kids. In such cases, it would be desirable to draw an analogy and ask these people, if they when their children grow up, will they abandon or kill them, too, because they are no longer cute kids. I anticipate you to say, “Well, it’s children how can we compare?” You certainly can compare because an abandoned child and abandoned cat feel exactly the same way. An animal that is used to living in the house will not adapt to living in the streets and will die. Domesticated animals do not have developed instincts, our pets depend too much on us humans. If you take a pet to your family, it is the same thing as you are having another child. But if you want a toy, you should better buy your child a soft toy that looks like a cat and let him play with it.