02/11/2023
The Benefits of a Family Pet
There are many advantages to pet ownership, especially for young children. Pets teach children valuable life lessons like responsibility, trust, compassion, respect and patience. While pets offer a lot of benefits to kids, kids also have a lot to offer the pet in your family as well. Both kids and pets enjoy high energy play as well as having a cuddle buddy during nap time.
One of the major reasons, and an important life skill, for owning a pet is to teach responsibility. Pets require food, water and love. Many, some more than others, require exercise. They also require grooming (brushing develops large muscles of the arm) and bathroom time (walking the dog develops large muscles of your child’s legs and is good for the development of their heart, brain and lungs).
Children over 5 years old can have developmentally appropriate responsibilities in regards to the care of the pet. Children under the age of 4 should be monitored with pets at all times, and children under the age of 10 should not be expected to take care of a dog or cat completely on their own.
A second skill children learn is trust. A pet offers unconditional support when a child (or anyone) is sad, angry or upset. They can teach your child to trust the pet, themselves and build trust in other relationships as well.
Compassion is the third life skill developed. When a child takes care of a pet, they learn to be kind to others through taking care of their furry friend’s basic needs.
Other skills kids learn include:
Bereavement. When a pet passes away, a child will learn about the grieving process.
Respect. Requiring gentle touching and learning about boundaries when the pet is eating and sleeping will develop respect for others in young children, which is a difficult skill to learn at a young age.
Self-esteem. When pets show unconditional love, it boosts a child’s self-esteem. Being responsible also develops self-esteem in young children.
Loyalty. Pets are very loyal and a good example of how to treat others that are important to the child and family.
Physical activity. Walking and throwing a ball is great exercise.
Patience. Sometimes bonding with a pet takes time, as well as teaching tricks and learning good behavior.
Social Skills. Pets are great in helping “break the ice.” On outings, dogs encourage conversations with others and will improve a child’s social skills.
Motivation. Because of all the skills pet ownership provides, young children have a reduced risk of allergies and better grades at school because kids develop internal motivation while caring for their animals.
Empathy. Children growing up with a pet do so with more empathy towards animals and more empathy in general.