Sure Fire Ways To Know When, Why & How To Get Your First Family Pet {Guest Post}

Guest Post By Scott Reddler

Kids, cats and dogs. They often go together like peanut butter and jelly, school days and homework. Part of this important process of choosing whether or not to get our children their first pet, comes an additional factor and set of equations when it comes to accepting a new member into our family. This means another life that needs to be looked after, loved and cared for in order to teach our offspring about responsibility while enlightening them to accept the inevitable circle of life.

Basically, it can come down to a simple consideration about an important educational process that enhances our children’s lives. This bond offers them companionship and enriches their life in general. Although we’ve mostly already covered the “why” aspect of the reasons we should go down this valuable road with our kids, but what about other queries?

There’s some obvious questions that need to be answered and sometimes they’re being posed initially by our children, like “can I have a cat” or “when can we get a dog?” But that’s the least of our worries as a parent when it comes to making this type of an important, well-informed and life-altering decision.

For example, let’s say we’ve decided on bringing a dog to bring into our closely-knit clan. There’s a great deal of “homework” to be done beforehand and lessons to be learned before we make these decisions and some important questions that need to be answered, like:

• Do our kids know all the rules about how to safely handle and interact with dogs?
• Is our home and yard suitable for a canine?
• Are there restrictions from our landlord or homeowner’s association regarding pets?
• Can we afford all the costs of animal care beyond food, toys and treats?

Veterinary bills can get really expensive, very quickly and unless we’re properly prepared for these costs, they can blindside a household budget. Not to shy anyone away from pet ownership, which is very rewarding, but we still should be educated on these expenses before entering into this type of a long-term, lifelong commitment.

How Now … Brown … Pet

It should come as no surprise to today’s consumers that pet stores are on the decline as some states are now requiring only rescue animals will be sold inside of this environment thanks to new legislation. In the shadow of scary situations found inside puppy mills and other deplorable conditions, it only makes sense to save a pet’s life instead of supporting cruel breeding and other tasteless tactics when it comes to the trafficking of animals.

Not to say that they’re aren’t plenty of reputable breeders out there, but statistics show there’s a plethora of purebred animals found in shelters depending on their breed and the sources being cited. If you’re looking for a specific type of an animal, your local shelter or rescue organization should be able to give you a general idea of what type of pet you’re considering.

So, in conclusion, the when these questions do occur … whether it happens according to your own, unique and differing circumstances, dependent upon you and your children, choose wisely and weigh your options along with the bonuses and setbacks:

WHEN – is up to you and your family. WHY – comes with many rewards for both you, your kids along with the family. HOW to go about this acquisition should be through the most compassionate way possible … shelters, adoption and rescue organizations are the amongst greatest options that deliver the best rewards when it comes to your newest, best friend and family member.

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