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Originally Posted by tinalove  We grew up with dogs. I can understand anyone's concern about handling a small animal but I feel children should be taught to handle and respect any size pet. They also need to be taught that sometimes a pet needs rest and space. A family pet will not feel like being held all the time. I think a young child should be watched while handling a pet but it is the same with their holding a younger brother or sister. You wouldn't leave a 2 or 3 year child alone with an infant. We can't watch children every minute but I think some adults should do better watching and training their children. I taught my children that our pets had feelings and to handle them with care. I also taught them just like they have moods, our pets have moods too. Having a family pet can be a great learning experience. It taught my teenage daughter about caring for a puppy and she realizes that caring for a human baby would be even harder (glad she knows this  ). |
You would think something like that would be common sense, however sense really isn't all that common. I could tell you stories about injuries to infants that occurred at the hands (or feet) of their toddler/preschool aged sibling while mom turned her back "for just a minute"...
From my perspective, I've never, ever met a parent who said " oh yeah, we knew she was going to hurt the baby/puppy but we left them alone any way..." They all claim that there children are better behaved/trained than the average kid. It's only after the injury or death that they realize they were extremely lucky it hadn't occurred earlier because kids are, well, kids.
As a general rule (and a personal bias) I believe that people who frequent boards like this are MORE likey than the general pet owner to do a better job of both educating their children and watching their pups. That's because they have put the effort in to learning about the vulnerabilities of their pets as well as being warned by the tales of those who haven't been as lucky before they are put in the situation. Again, that unfortunately is not the average pet owner in this country; far too many come looking for answers only after something has happened.