It’s finally time for you to consider bringing a dog into the house for your kids. How exciting! But before you bring a new four-legged friend home, it’s important to make sure your kids have a firm grasp on dog care and how to treat it respectfully. Planning to buy a dog? Here is a great blog to read before buying a dog!
Few Tips for Teaching Your Kids to Respect and Care for Their First Dog:
Devise a Meal Schedule Together
One of the most important parts of caring for a new dog is deciding who will have the responsibility of feeding them and what times of day they’ll need to be fed. For example, if you’re bringing home a puppy, they’ll need to eat four meals a day until they’re over 12 weeks old. It might seem like you’re making the act of bringing a dog home more special by surprising your kids, but the truth is that good planning is always going to be more beneficial both for your family and for your new dog. So work with your kids to help them learn how much food your new dog will need and how many times they’ll need to be fed daily. You can also decide whether this will be one person’s responsibility or it’s a job that will be shared. When you go in with a plan for mealtimes, you can rest assured your dog will always be well-fed.
Teach Your Kids How to Interact with Dogs
An estimated 4.5 million Americans are bitten by dogs every year, and half of those victims are children. Teaching your child how to respect a dog’s personal space, interact safely, and understand signals that a dog wants them to back off is incredibly important. Not only will this knowledge keep your child safe, but it will also keep your new dog safe. A few key don’ts to review with your child include:
- Don’t pull a dog’s ears, tail, or fur.
- Don’t put your face near a dog’s mouth.
- Don’t run towards an unfamiliar dog.
- Don’t sneak up behind a dog.
- Don’t poke or pinch a dog.
Dogs, just like humans, have ways of telling people to back off. If a dog start growling, pins their ears back, or bares their teeth, those are sure signs that it’s time to give that dog some space. Before you bring a dog into your home, make sure your kids understand that they need to watch and listen to their dog just like they would for a friend. Also discuss the importance of dog training with them.
If you’re nervous about how well your kids grasp this concept, consider asking a friend with a dog if your kids can visit them for a little bit. With your supervision and the supervision of the dog owner, your kids can test out what they’ve learned about interacting with dogs. Based on encounters like this, you can make a more informed decision on whether your family is ready for a new four-legged friend or not.
Explain the Importance of Dog Hygiene
You’ve done your best to teach your kids about personal hygiene. And now it’s your job to teach them about it again, but this time for your future dog. Did you know that by age three, almost 80% of dogs have some form of periodontal disease? Brushing your dog’s teeth a few times every week is an important part of their health. In addition, dog grooming with the help of a mobile dog grooming company, regular baths, daily brushing, and walks are all important parts of keeping your dog healthy. Maintaining your pet’s well-being is a priority for every pet owner, and with Frontline Dogs, you can efficiently combat harmful parasites to keep your furry friend healthy and happy. While you might want to assist or supervise your kids with these activities at first, it’s important that if they’re going to take responsibility for a dog, they take responsibility for its hygiene and health, too. Who will walk the dog every day? Who will brush their teeth? These are questions your kids need to answer if they really want a dog of their own. You can buy a dog DNA test kit to help you find out which genes your dog may carry but not display.
Bringing your kids’ first dog home is an exciting time. That being said, it should also be a safe, responsible, and healthy time filled with learning about how to properly care for a new furry friend.
