Pet The World

A pet can be a wonderful thing for a child. Not only can they provide lover and friendship, but they can also spark a child’s intellect and further the mind’s understanding and comprehension of the world. What kind of pet should one get? Well, there are many choices, but one of the best might be a dog. They are called man’s best friend for a reason.

Most children love animals. Most children beg their parents for a pet if they don’t already have one. Children love the affection that a pet can give. They love the fun they can have with one. They’re a friend when no one else is around. They’re a relief and comfort when things get too sad or tough in life. They’re a great way to get a child to be more active and take on responsibilities of helping to take care of a pet.

Why a dog and not another pet?

Dogs generally provide the most interaction with humans, especially children. Cats can be very anti-social to children, particularly smaller ones. Unlike dogs, they don’t show so much attention towards babies either and probably won’t be as entertaining or amusing to the young child.

Rodents, birds and other caged animals take much longer to get adjusted to their new family. A child won’t really understand how to properly react and treat these creatures to get them to be more affectionate with them. Dogs are more social and therefore can be the best choice to being a child’s pet companion.

When is a good time to get a pet?

It’s never a bad time to get a pet, but having one already accustomed and a part of the family before having a child can be a good idea. This isn’t always able to be planned, of course, but having a pet before working on having children can be a good idea for the future parents too. This is a good idea because it can get the pet trained and keep all attention on this training.

People worry that the pet might become jealous of the child. This is only true if the owners neglect the pet and focus solely on the child. The thing to remember that the pet is still a family member and isn’t just a placeholder until something “better” comes along.

Why get a pet before having a child?

There are a few important reasons here. Along with the already stated getting the pet adjusted with its owners and trained, it also allows the child to get used to the pet growing up. It can really strengthen their bond. The dog may see the child as more of a family member than just an owner. It can be more protective and loving as the child grows up. This can help to assure that the dog will know not to play too rough with the child and also to keep a close eye on the child, almost like a friendly chaperone.

What are the benefits to the baby?

A baby is constantly learning new things and adjusting to the world. Their minds are developing everything and anything they will need to survive, to live, to experience their life. One example is their understanding of nature and animals. A pet can be both a way to learn and a way to amuse the child while still being a pet and a friend to the family.

The child’s curious mind can further develop with the interaction of the dog. Not only does it help the child to understand what a dog is, but it also helps the child to develop concepts of color, movement, texture, friendship, and new sensations. The dog will amuse the child and interest their mind to further try to figure out what this thing is. This is not to say that the dog is a toy. It is always a pet and a family member, but it can hold more interest and curiosity to the child that will help development.

A pet isn’t just something to get because you want a child to be happy. It is a huge responsibility and requires a lot of time and attention. But it is important to realize how much a child’s growth from the early years, to teen and adult years, is affected positively by a good pet. Animals can be great friends and provide a lot to all of us regardless of our age. Getting your child to love animals at a young age can help them have a better appreciation for the world and teach them life lessons effectively and positively.

Jake Rose is an artist and an author from Massachusetts.

This article has been submitted in affiliation with http://www.BabyNameVote.Com which is a site for Baby Names.

Share This

What you feed your dog directly influences the dog’s coat. Dry, complete foods have many advantages:

They are easily stored

They are quick and simple to feed

They are clean

They provide a nutritionally complete diet

All the hard work of providing a nutritionally complete diet is done for you

Among the several types of dry food on the market today, a dry food with excess protein has been known to make some dogs aggressive or hyperactive. Take the advice of your breeder and vet if you have concerns.

If your dog has worms, the coat will suffer. It is very important to keep your dog wormed according to your vet’s recommendations.

A fit and healthy dog will be recognized by the gleam of his coat. Exercise, walking, free-running and visits to new areas stimulate good health. Each breed of dog varies in their exercise requirement. Regular exercise is essential for keeping a dog in good health and a good coat. Check your dog’s feet regularly. In cold weather, check the pads for packed snow, ice or other debris which can cause problems.

The type of bedding and housing your dog has will have a bearing on the dog’s coat. A dog constantly lying on concrete will wear the hair off. A dog lying in the grass all the time may get bitten by insects and develop skin irritations. Scratching at the bites can destroy a beautiful coat in a short period of time.

Bedding should be washed regularly with Clorox bleach and a good laundry detergent. Floors should be kept clean. Strong disinfectant can be dangerous if it comes in contact with the coat or the dog licks the disinfectant off the coat.

A regular grooming routine can help you detect problems like runny eyes, bad breath, skin disorders and allergies. Early treatment of these problems is essential. If you see one flea, there probably are many more. Please use a good flea and tick preventative especially if your dog spends a lot of time outdoors. It may be necessary to apply flea and tick prevention year round according to the climate in which you live.

In conclusion the healthiest dog coats are a result of a high quality nutritionally complete diet and regular grooming routines. Genetics can lay the groundwork for a good coat, but diet, exercise and grooming will maintain and/or improve the dog’s coat.

Share This

We all know that Consequences can be used to train new behaviours and reduce existing behaviours. But what about non-consequences?

Extinction is the process of not reinforcing a previously reinforced behaviour.

It involves identifying what the reinforcer is for a target behaviour and removing it.

For a dog who likes to ‘counter-surf’, i.e check out the kitchen counters looking for food, the reinforcer is easy to identify - FOOD.

To solve that sort of problem we need to use extinction. Whenever there is food on the counter, the dog must be doing something else or must be otherwise unable to come into the kitchen. He might be in a crate, or outside, or the kitchen door may be shut, or my favourite - we trained our dog to lie quietly in a designated area and shared a little of the food to reinforce this more acceptable behaviour instead. That way we both got what we wanted and our dog learned a better way to behave in the kitchen.

When we’re not cooking, or unable to supervise our dog, we must leave kitchen counters clean. We put away any food, and maybe even wipe the benches clean.

That way, when our dog comes to check out the kitchen counter he will find nothing, and therefore the behaviour will not be reinforced.

In the short term, the behaviour will get worse. Then it will get better. Then it will go away.

Beware the gambler’s curse - Variable Schedules of Reinforcement. This is where we forget one time to clean our benches and our dog finds some food. A Variable Schedule of Reinforcement makes behaviour very resistant to extinction, that is why addicted gamblers will spend every last cent on a poker machine that ultimately gobbles up all their money, paying out only occassionally to keep the gambler addicted.

You can still extinguish behaviour that is on a Variable Schedule of Reinforcement, but it takes longer to do. A common problem is when family don’t follow the rules and leave food out on the bench while the dog is unsupervised. You will need to explain extinction and Variable Schedules of Reinforcement so that they understand how important it is. Often it is simply a lack of understanding or communication that results in lack of co-operation.

So how can you apply Extinction to your pet’s behavior problem? First - identify the reinforcer. Second - remove it. If you can teach an alternative behavior or provide a more acceptable outlet for the unwanted behavior, then it may speed things up for you.

Another example. Many people complain that their dog raids their rubbish bin. The reinforcer in this case is usually scraps of food or something smelly to play with. How do we remove the reinforcer? We could buy a more secure bin with a lid. We could put the bin in a cupboard. We could move the bin to another room and shut the door so that the dog can’t access it.

Any of these options will work, it depends on what suits you and your lifestyle the best. You may have to make a compromise, but that is just part of owning a pet. The joy and companionship they bring more than outweighs the small inconvenience of compromises like these - more so when you come home to a loving pet who has NOT spilled rubbish all over your yard or eaten tonight’s dinner, I’m sure you will agree!

Aidan Bindoff is intensely interested in dog behaviour and works to remediate fearful, anxious and aggressive dogs in Australia. He also moderates the Training Levels group at http://www.groups.yahoo.com/group/traininglevels/ which offers a step-by-step training program for people training their own dogs. This program was created by Sue Ailsby, for more information visit the Training Levels group or Sue’s website (with FREE e-book) http://www.dragonflyllama.com

Share This