Anyone who has ever owned a pet knows that there is no end to the things animals can teach us. Not everyone realizes what a positive influence a family pet can have on a child, though. Growing up with pets helps kids learn life skills like empathy and responsibility in a hands-on way that can’t be taught as well in any other manner. Since pet ownership is a lifelong responsibility, children can quickly learn what it means to care for others.
Life Skills: Attention to Detail
Since pets rely on humans for a lot, children have a front-row learning experience that teaches them how to pay attention to the needs of others. As they watch their parents feed, bathe, and walk pets, they will start to learn the animal’s cues for thirst, hunger, and potty needs. Paying attention to this level of detail in another living creature’s daily routine goes hand-in-hand with caring, which fosters empathy for the animal. This will also help your children learn details about your pet’s personality through body language, which can influence how they interact with other humans.
Life Skills: The Need for Patience
Patience is one of the most important things children can learn from their pets. Dogs and cats don’t always want to do things on our schedule. It may take a little time to teach an animal a new trick. Sometimes, potty training does not always go according to plan. At other times, animals require constant attention. Each time a child must have patience with a pet, they are learning how to be more understanding toward the needs of others.
Life Skills: Important Caretaking Tasks
If you involve your children in the process of caring for your pets, it provides a crash course on being responsible for something else. Whether your child is responsible for ensuring your cat has water or accompanies you on walks with your dog, each of these small tasks helps instill the value of responsibility that can help your child become a well-rounded adult.
Life Skills: Growth of Independence
As your children succeed at responsibly taking care of pets, you could give them more tasks. Creating caretaking tasks that are reserved specifically for them helps them gain a sense of independence, which can foster confidence and self-reliance. The more confident they feel with this independence, the more responsible they will be in other facets of their lives.
Life Skills: Consequence Correlation
Another important element for kids growing up in a home with pets is seeing the direct correlation between their actions (or inactions) and consequences. If someone forgets to walk the dog, for example, he might have an accident in the house. This lesson in accountability helps instill the importance of responsibility in kids and helps them understand how their actions affect others.
Growing up with pets helps kids develop life skills that will help them be good humans, partners, and parents as they mature. Involve your kids in a pet’s care, providing increasing responsibility as they grow and can show what they have learned.
At Oakland Veterinary Referral Services, we know just how much animals can enhance our lives. We love providing helpful tips on pet ownership to ensure you and your pets can make the most of your time together. Call (248) 334-6877 to learn how our specialty and emergency veterinary services can support your pets.
