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broke my heart today. we were leaving kidspace, a great place (handson museum and play space in Pasadena) when we saw the cutest pug puppy on a leash. we went up to say hi so dd could see the puppy (she's a dog person-don't know how this happened). anyway, the mom has a 3 year old boy and she bought the pug pup for her son. so we watched the boy pull all his extra skin and hair, even after mom said "no". then he stomped on the pup's front paw twice, definitely intentionally. it was just awful. come to find out that mom "got rid of" the pet pig because it was taking food from the child and digging her garden ( :confused: isn't that why they're called pigs? geez). anyway, it just broke my heart. I'm sure the kid is good at heart but he really needs a dog that can hold his own, like a large lab or something.
I just kept flashing back to eric and scott, two beastly little boys I babysat about 30 years ago. their mom, a schoolteacher (who really should have known better), bought them a kitten. who would buy a 4 year old and a 2 year old an innocent kitten? well, they ended up bashing his head repeatedly on the garage door and other tortures. I'd run across the street and lecture them and take the kitten. finally they moved away and gave us the kitten (who learned that the minute the door opened he should run to our house to hide). the kitten ended up having brain seizures all his life from the abuse. I looked at that puppy today and I could see the same thing happening.
so if anyone is contemplating buying their toddlers/preschoolers a pet, please think of buying an animal that can hold its own against the toddler behavior!
I know that puppy's face is going to haunt me for days...
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It really depends on the kids. When our three kids moved in, at the time 18 months, 26 months and 3.5 years (Boy, bou girl) we had an 18 year old cat who was becoming weak. (Actually the cat in my avatar)
Those kids were so gentile and kind to him. They tried to be quiet when he was walking around. They petted him one at a time. They touched him softly.
Before we got these three kids, we had two girls we tried to adopt. Age 6 and 7. They were very good to our cat also.
It depends on the kids.
I had a dog and a cat before I had a kid. My son loves them both. We also have added a hamster. He likes the hamster, but is afraid to hold it. Which is good. I think he might squish it accidentally if it started squirming.
But it is obvious that mom doesn't attach any value to the animal, so the kids won't.
My animals make me crazy. Pooping in the cage, missing the litter box on occassion, but I could NEVER get rid of them. I love them. My son feels the same way. If I ever got rid of Wolf because she took food from him or pooped in her cage, he'd be hearbroken.
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A pet shop here got nailed for coloring the baby chicks. It's illegal to color them here. I think the news said then inject dye into the egg before the chick hatches. Baby chicks are so cute, but who wants a full grown chicken when you don't live on a farm? Again, another part of the problem - they usually end up dead.
Just my two cents- I think that A LOT has to do with the parents. I have had my 7 lb yorkie since before my three kids. I have always kept an EXTREMELY vigilant eye on him when he was with the kids and never left them alone when they were babies. However, by the time they were toddlers, they knew- because we had taught them- that they could only do "soft, soft" on him. None of them ever hurt him. They did do a lot of tongue kissing, however, much to the disgust of my parents and MIL!
Kelly
FH-LisaCA
so we watched the boy pull all his extra skin and hair, even after mom said "no". then he stomped on the pup's front paw twice, definitely intentionally.
OMG, I'm still shaking my head over the artificially colored chicks, who are these people?
We got two kittens when DD was 2 and DS was 7. DS was great with them but they spent their first 6 months at our house hiding under the living room furniture from DD. They did survive (lol), but I'll tell you 2-yo's do not know how to handle kitties.
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We have a small dog that we don't plan to get rid of when we bring home dd. (Our dog is my first baby!).
However, I actually hope to keep them apart much of the time - I imagine Bijou (dog) will hide or climb to a high sitting spot if the baby is a hair/ear puller.
We have good friends who bought a puppy for their 4 yo son for Christmas. Now, the child knows how to be gentle, but he actually does not like the puppy, because it nips with its sharp teeth (and he is a medium-big breed, Golden Retriever). Dh and I felt it was a bad idea from the start. I told dh we would not be getting a puppy *for* dd. Puppies are hard work, so we will only get one if I (or dh) wants one, with no illusions that it is the baby's puppy. By the way, it worked out that over the holiday our friends also took in their sisters' adult Golden Retriever, and their son LOVES that dog. I think adult dogs are great choices in many cases.
D.
I agree that it's a parenting issue in most cases.
My youngest was 3 when we got a kitten and at first he hugged a little too tight, (not intentionally) but I would remove the kitty and show him how to be more gentle.
I babysit my neighbor's granddtr sometimes who is 1.5. I watch her carefully around the cat and she is very good with him. Does like his tail but has learned not to pull.
So I think it can be done well, but the parents have to teach their kids.:)
I have found that some people just don't really care about animals. They have them because they think they should.
I have a very good friend who had the greatest yellow lab. Milo ran away. No one in her house seemed to care that much. I was very sad. Even her 5 year wasn't very upset, he was like 'oh, well'. He had the same attitude when his guinea pig died.
On the other had, if my dog ran away, I would be devastated. I'd be combing the city 24/7 until I found her. I LOVE my animals. They are family.
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