When a child joins a new family, it’s common to find a pet, often a dog or a cat, already sharing the home. Pets And Children usually form unique bonds, but while there are no set behavioural rules for fostering peaceful cohabitation, it’s crucial to maintain consistent care and routines for the pet. This article explores the specifics of these relationships and key behavioural considerations.

The dog

If we have a dog, we should not let him miss the daily dose of cuddles and games, gradually ensuring our child's presence and closeness. In this way, as the days pass, our four-legged friend will share space and time with his new playmate, who will simultaneously become another of his owners.

Thus, we can allow ourselves, even with a baby only a few months old, to briefly “delegate” control and companionship to our dog.

Pets and children are always careful.

However, solid breeds, such as Great Danes or Rottweilers, different types of sheepdogs, and all puppies must be treated with exceptions and specific care. Being playful, these puppies might inadvertently and unknowingly hit or injure our child.

As they grow accustomed to being together, they will spontaneously and reciprocally respect each other’s ordinary times and spaces with a natural sense of rules, which the diversity of the two creatures imposes. Therefore, our dog will probably not disturb the child during his afternoon nap, nor will he want to play if he is crying; he will stay close by to keep him company.

The greatest gift one can give one’s children is the authentic and precious friendship of an animal that will love them purely and unconditionally.

Similarly, the child will want them close at the busiest times of the day. A typical example is while doing homework when the child will experience the proximity of a four-legged friend as vital support and accompaniment.

The dog is, therefore, not just a playmate. For a child, living with it means growing up in harmony, without prejudice and, above all, without fear of being judged for one’s mistakes and weaknesses. It will strengthen your child in body and spirit, who, as he grows up, will have more self-confidence and more confidence even in his weaknesses: coming home after every difficulty, he will always have a best friend to count on!

The cat

Two children lying in bed with three grey kittens between them, sharing a warm and curious moment together.
Although there is no behavioural rule for peaceful cohabitation between our baby and our pet, it is advisable to maintain the same habits and care for the house pet!

If we own a cat, we should take the same initial precautions as those indicated for dogs.

Even the cat, which has more references to spaces and objects (e.g., sleeping on its chair or standing still on the table), recognises and refers to only one family member with straightforward and unquestionable attitudes. With greater caution, the chosen family member must bring the newborn closer to the cat to make it aware of a new presence and the change in the family and home.

The first contact should occur while the cat is licking and washing, as this is the time of day when it is most relaxed and inclined to human-imposed contact. This would not be possible if it were sleeping. None of us knows what reaction he might have or what unexpected response he might have after eating when he is overexcited by the culinary experience he has just had.

Domestic and wild

Although a domestic animal, the cat is, by DNA, a wild and wary animal. After realising that the newcomer poses no danger to itself, it will approach it naturally, dispensing purrs, cuddles and various meows we are also used to receiving. An adult must monitor these free initiatives to ensure the little one’s safety.

Even more than the dog, the cat has to respect its times and rules, which not even a child can expect to change. Certainly, however, the animal-child relationship will change and cement its ways and habits as it grows up: for example, during a drawing or homework session, the cat will almost certainly fall asleep on its paper, purring at will and listening to the various thoughts that come to your child’s mind.

Pets And Children.Faithful Sentinels

Like the dog, the cat will also be an attentive sentinel of the boy’s health. It will not fail to signal with an insistent meow that he is unwell. The cat will keep him company with constant purring and cuddles to make his closeness felt and spur him on to a speedy recovery.

A daily pet therapy

Similar behaviour of symbiosis between a child and an animal can also be found with other animals, from the bunny rabbit to the piglet to the horse, which we all know is the main protagonist of pet therapy, recently recognised as a positive support for people in difficulty. But is growing up with a dog or cat a natural, everyday pet therapy?

This could be confirmed by comparison with any family in which animals and children lived together. Their stories would only tell of love, trust, respect, responsibility, and probably even some amusing anecdotes. Still, above all, they would be living testimony to the fact that the greatest gift one can give one’s children is the authentic and precious friendship of an animal: the only one who will know how to love them in a pure way, who will enrich them from the first moment and who will remain a stable and irreplaceable reference point in their hearts forever.

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