Hi,

I teach children (and their parents) Humane Education, so I am going to give you my opinion.

Getting a pet for a child is a great opportunity for children to learn compassion, empathy and as a follow-through of that, responsibility. The adult sets the example for all things in their children's lives, including how to care for and treat a pet. So if you get a pet that is "low maintenance" (and personally, I do not think, by definition, any pet is "low maintenance"), and you basically have little or no care for the pet, the children learn not to take care of a living thing. That is why fish and turtles die and people shrug and replace tham. And the children learn that little lives are replaceable.

Anyway, most children 2 and 4 years of age are not old enough to learn to take care of a pet.

I know you did not ask for all this, and please take it in the spirit it was offered. I want children to grow up to be responsible pet owners who do not do some of the horribly ignorant and insensitive things we observe on this forum with regularity.

Good luck in whatever you decide with the kids!

Elly
I really appreciate your message and by no means took any offense to it. In fact, I couldn't agree more! I would really like to get them a dog for all the reasons you listed above. However, we are renting our house until our new one is built and I don't feel it would be appropriate to bring a dog into someone else's home and yard.
I thought that maybe a pet that is easier to care for would allow them, since they are so young, to ease into such a big responsibility as caring for a pet.
Thank you again for your concern for pets and their owners!

I agree that 4 and 2 years is too young to have a pet really. They don't have an understanding of what it means to have a living creature fully dependent on them. They are still fully dependent themselves! However, I had the benefit of loving a bunny since I was 5, plus various other critters- snakes, cats, birds, dogs, etc. My mom took care of all of them until I was about 7, and then the bunny was primarily my responsibility but I often had to be reminded to clean her litter pan and such. As long as you are completely aware that YOU are going to be responsible for the pet, I think it is OK. However YOU have to want the pet and want that responsibility. My mom has always loved animals and really wanted a bunny, dog, and cat. She put up with the snakes, birds, and turtle :)