10 Reasons Why Pets Are Good For Your Child

For most children the excitement of nurturing and cuddling a pet or animal can be an incomparable feeling. Such feelings often become a part of their lifelong memories.The joyous experiences that your kids will gain from her relationship with her pet will last for years to come. Pets – puppies, kittens, or hamsters - are just like young children. They need all the love, care, affection, time and energy. Dogs, especially, are very sensitive beings; they understand their master’s mood by their touch itself. They have a gifted ability to sense love, sadness or danger.

Making a pet like dogs etc animals a part of your family has numerous benefits, besides being a playful, adorable and safe companion for your child. Know more here benefits of having pets for your kids.

10 Benefits of Having Pets for Child 

Here are the reasons why I encourage you to make a pet or animal part of your family and child’s life -

1. Companionship:Pets constantly provide companionship to our children. Especially if you have one kid, then pet will be your little one’s best friend
2. Confidence building:With pets, kids can/will create an emotional bond. It helps them develop high self-esteem and be self-confident
3. Comfort factor:When children feel sad, angry, and alone or depressed, they often turn to their pets for comfort
4. Responsibility:In the process of taking care of their pet, toddlers can gradually be taught to take on responsibilities. They begin learning how to be accountable, for example, by regularly checking for the pet’s food and water, taking them for timely walks, and cleaning up after them
5. Caring and nurturing:The ability to take care of others and nurture them with love and compassion cannot be taught to someone overnight. One of the best ways to teach nurturing gradually is by having a pet at home
6. Exercise:While playing with their pet both indoors and outdoors, your toddlers also gets to run and move around. This further helps in channelizing her energy, maintaining stamina levels and enjoying a relaxed sleep
7. Emotional development:Taking care of pets helps children in controlling their aggressive thoughts and actions. Since they are always surrounded by their pet that almost from the start becomes close to them, the soft emotions and gestures required to handle the pet help keep children calm in their thoughts and actions
8. Non-judgmental: Because pets don’t have a language to label a kid’s behavior and judge her, children get a sense of being respected and accepted as they are. It somehow gives them reassurance that they are wanted. This particular relationship is completely secure and non-judgmental
9. Emotional security:The non-judgmental nature of this relationship many a times helps children build trust. For those who come from dysfunctional families or a troubled childhood or experiences of spending early years in an orphanage, it helps them to overcome trust issues and with mature and sensitive supervision create loving and trustworthy relationships in life
10. Pure joy:Last but not the least, dogs make kid happy irrespective of the environment and situation around. Having a dog or another pet in the family is definitely worth considering. The warmth and affection this extremely adorable being will bring in your child’s life and to your family, is quite incredible.

How Pets Help In Overall Child Development ?

Did you know that having a pet, animals around, and growing up with one can contribute in big way towards your childrens’s overall development, particularly in the area of emotional and psychological well-being? Pets do contribute in a major way in the overall development of your kids, and here’s a personal account.

My Personal Experience Of Having A Pet

I want to share a small personal story of my adolescent years when I had a pet of my own. “When I was 14 years old, my mother brought a one-month old white colored Spitz puppy for me. His name was Lobo. In no time he became my world. I still remember from day one itself, I began nurturing and taking care of him automatically. Soon, taking care of his needs, safety, and well-being was a part of my duties, and the daily and monthly chores taught me how to take on responsibilities. My joy and happiness had no boundaries, for I had a companion to spend my lonely moments with. As a teenager, there were emotional moments that I used to struggle dealing with, and there were so many things that I could only share with him and not even my own mom or brother or friends. There was always this unique feeling of being accepted, loved and not judged".

What do you think of Sugandha’s reasons for bringing home a pet useful? Do you have a pet? How does it help your toddlers’s development? Do leave your comment, we love hearing from you!