|
Below, you'll find extensive information on leading
puppy linux articles and products to help you on your way
to success.
Children And Toy Dog Breeds
By Bill Knell, Fri Dec 9th
Because my wife is a toy dog breeder, it isn't unusual for herto get several calls a week from people who practically beg herto sell them a puppy. They cite their financial and socialability to care for the puppy and often try and avoid thequestion of children in the household. As a rule, my wife findsthis humorous. People shouldn't have to beg, fill out atwenty-page adoption application or hide the fact that they havechildren to purchase a puppy. It's pet protection gone wild. There isn't an honest or ethical Dog Breeder in the world whowould send a beloved pup to someone they had questions about.Unfortunately, it's very difficult and not entirely lawful tomake that kind of determination. In most States it's technicallyillegal to provide some sort of 'test' for a consumer to be ableto purchase a product. That comes later and isn't theresponsibility of the Breeder. A good example of a similarsituation would be buying a car. If a person has the cash or credit to purchase a vehicle andpossesses a current drivers license, they get a car or thedealership gets sued in most places. The dealership can't run acheck to see how many DWI summonses the person has had or howmany times they have been convicted of speeding or some othermoving violation. If they drive their new vehicle in anirresponsible manner, it's up to the Police and Courts to decideif they should continue to do so.
There's a lot of difference between a living thing and avehicle, but not in the eyes of most state laws. If a Breederfeels that a puppy may be in danger, they can always take thechance of reporting the new owner to animal protectionauthorities. Those authorities will come to the owner's home andcheck on the welfare of the puppy. If the puppy is not beingproperly cared for, it will likely be removed from the premises.However, most people that spend a substantial amount of moneyfor a puppy are unlikely to mistreat or fail to care for it. The quest for the perfect puppy owner is an obsession with manyToy Dog Breeders. I have always viewed these people as beingselfish. They would keep every puppy if they could and probablyhave more dogs then they should already. This type of personwill tend to restrict purebred registrations fearing thatsomeone else might benefit from their years of careful breedingby having a litter of their own. Their concern for animalwelfare extends well beyond the norm, has more to do with theirpersonal obsessions then anything else and doesn't take intoconsideration the joy a puppy can bring into a new owner's life.Breeders like these have no real loyalty to their customers andview them as a necessary evil to move out extra pups they cannotkeep. If someone who is looking for a toy dog breed puppy can get pastthe egos and obsessions of these kinds of Breeders, the nexthurdle they are likely to face is passing the 'children' test.Many toy dog breeders refuse to sell their pups to people withchildren under the age of sixteen. Some will actually refuse tosell a puppy to anyone with children under twenty-one living intheir household. That's ironic when children are likely tobenefit the most from caring for a puppy. Children are not the enemy when it comes to the health of toydog breeds. The enemy is owner apathy. To my knowledge, morepuppies have been injured in households where there are nochildren then in those were kids are a part of the puppy careprocess. That's because adults are busy and will often forget tofeed and water their animals, leave them unattended for too longin places or temperatures dangerous for them or place them withpet sitters who can't even care for a goldfish, let alone a dog. While it would be unwise to leave very young children alone witha puppy of any size, most children can easily be taught how tocare for one. As a parent with seven children, I can attest tothis. In the many years that my wife has been breeding toy dogs,not one of our has ever been injured (and certainly noneby our kids). Just the opposite. Our children have helped carefor the and alerted my wife if one seemed sluggish ormight need a change of diet. The most common argument made against allowing children accessto toy dog breeds or most any puppy is that a child shouldn't beallowed to learn responsibility at the cost of the health orlife of an animal. While no one would argue with that logic, onewonders if that should apply to all animals,
or just dogs. Afterall, pet stores sell tens of thousands of fish, small reptiles,rats, mice, guinea pigs, hamsters and snakes to children everyday. Are the lives of those pets any less precious or valuablethen that of dogs? In reality, and adult dogs are much easier to care forthen fish, reptiles, rats, mice, guinea pigs, hamsters andsnakes. It would seem an obvious mistake to ask a child to takeon the responsibility of caring for a high maintenance pet whena puppy or adult dog is available. It's also wrong to believethat toy dog breeds can be far more fragile then larger ones.For example, more German Shepards become ill or die each yearfrom low blood sugar issues then any single toy breed, despitethe fact that people often associate that problem with smallerbreed dogs. When it comes to children and puppies, it's all about rules nomatter what size breed is chosen. Children learn by example. Ifadults in the home are responsible with pets, the kids willfollow that example. Simple things like cleaning up after,feeding, watering and securing the location of a puppy areessentials that any child can easily be taught. Every one of mychildren learned how to take care of dogs by watching us. Itdidn't take long for them to understand the importance offeeding, watering and cleaning up after a pet on schedule. Afterwatching us take care of our dogs, they wanted to take part inthe process and were happy to lend a hand. Our younger childrenlearned from our older kids. When considering the addition of a puppy to a household of anysize, there are some basic considerations. The first andforemost being the ability of household members to train, carefor and spend quality time with a pet. are not playthings for people of any age. They are living creatures capableof a surprising number of feelings and emotions. The nextimportant consideration is how all the members of your householdwill react to a new pet. Will the puppy be a welcomed addition,or a point of contention and jealousy? A puppy should bring joyinto the lives of people, not more problems. If the members of your household all agree that a puppy would bea good addition to the family and they are ready, willing andable to meet the emotional and physical requirements of a puppy,then start your search. However, it's important for children andadults alike to understand that and adult dogs needcare, love and attention everyday of the year. Their needs donot take a break for vacations, holidays, school or workschedules. Puppies of any size or breed can bring a huge amount of joy intoa household. It's wrong to believe that children are a threat toa toy dog's safety or quality of life. More of all sizesare killed or injured each year by falling or accidentally beingflung out of cars and trucks then have ever been injured bychildren. That's because adults fail to properly secure theirpets in a vehicle. We've all seen the idiots who think it's cuteto allow their pets to hang out the window or be bounced aroundlike loose groceries in the back of a van, SUV or pick-up. If you ask them, most veterinarians will tell you that the vastmajority of injuries to dogs of any size are caused by adults,not children. If injuries do occur because a child failed tosecure their animal properly or got involved with some sort ofrough play during which a pet was injured, they are farout-numbered by injuries involving dogs being watched or caredfor by adults. After examining statistics compiled by variousveterinarian organizations, rescue groups, breeders andgovernment entities, I've found that more and dogs dieeach year during routine teeth cleaning procedures in veterinaryoffices then are injured by children. In the end, it's not about the children, it's about the adultsin a household. If you do not have time to spend with yourchildren, do not even consider bringing a puppy in as areplacement for your attention. You will not have the timeneeded to supervise your child as they learn to care for andtrain their new pet. If you do have enough time to teach yourkids how to care for a puppy and supervise them throughout theprocess, it can be a wonderful experience for everyone involved(including the puppy). About the author:Author: Bill Knell Author's Email: billknell@cox.net Author'sWebsite: http://www.billknell.com Word count : Approx 1590 TermsTo Use Article: Permission is granted to use this article forfree online or in print. Please add a link to or print mywebsite address of http://www.billknell.com
|
