What is a good pet for a young child (3 yrs)?
Answers:
Our family pet is a 2 year old Lhasa Apso. She's a little 8 pound dog who LOVES the children. She is neither overly aggressive, doesn't shed much, and is not a yippy little dog.
I wouldn't recommend a rodent - guinea pig, hamster, mouse, rat, etc. - for a toddler. Rodents are hard enough to tame without being man-handled by a child who may not know the tolerance levels of such animals.
Fish are nice - but boring.
Get a dog or cat - but if you get a cat, know that they can be tempermental and may not adapt well to a small child.
My children are 3 and 1 1/2.
Other Answers:
I would get a dog. Maybe a wennie dog or a beagle. Good dogs and small enough.
A guinea pig becaue they are okay to handle and don't require too much maintenance. You want something then easy for you b/c @ 3yrs old....mom will be doing the work:)
How about a Teddy Bear Hamster to start him off?
Try soft ones like rabbits.
Vicious and those who only look dangerous(but I can bet that you already knew this)
Low maintenance pets like fish. Small tank/bowl. If they die after a few months/years you are not out big investment, and you will see how long your child's interest lasts. Dogs/cats live too long. I got my daughter a fish. It was a blue beta and it was really pretty. But one day it kinda scared her b/c it jumped or flopped or whatever it did, it came out of the fish bowl and landed on the table and after flopping around for a few seconds it died. My daughter was 2 when it happened and she almost had a heart attack. The only thing she could say was what happened to Nemo? (That's what she named it)
i got my kid a cat when she was 2 and she loves it she is 5 and the cat is still alive and well and she even went through having another child being brought up with her. and i got fish for her also in a 10 gallon tank, its in her room and it is a great night light source. and i made it her responsibility to feed them also with my helping get the stuff and watching how much she uses.
A boxer, they are loyal, and always puppies, and they wont hurt your child.Dog will be better. It will Play with ur child and will never harm too honestly a 3 year old is too young for any pet of their own...
the pet should be a family or parents pet....
often people get fish for their kids and the kids kill them with kindness (overfeeding)
or they get cats/dogs for their kids and the young kids dont understand that the cat/dog does not want to be held/carried all the time and kids cannot read the body language of the pet....especially at 3 and like you say he is sometimes over enthusiastic so if the pet wants/needs to get down will he understand that the pets need is more important than his own????
kids cannot clean the cages and do not understand commitment
sooooooo.... really get a pet for yourselves or family and allow this child SOME interaction but DO NOT make the pet his because this will cause problems
if you select cat or dog, do not get kitten or pup because both are more difficult with kids (especially house training a pup when you have 2 little kids - and pups are more prone to biting and knocking down kids than a mature settled dog... kittens are more claw agressive and a kid can easily hurt them accidentally)
SPCA is great place to go and "test" all the pets
NEVER NEVER BUY FROM A PET STORE - you will pay WAY too much for an inferior pet -
hermit crab might be ok if he is ok with having a pet you look at and dont have to handle (you can handle them but if dropped they may die)
For my little girls 3rd birthday we brought her a hamster with one of them cages with all the tubes they can run through. She gets it out most nights to stroke. They are so easy to look after. Maybe when she is a bit older we will buy a dog but these take alot of looking after but children will enjoy taking them with you for walks. My daughter is getting a kitten for her third birthday. The kitten will be 4 months old when she eventually gets it. My daughter is old enough now to understand that kittens have feelings too but i don't think it's fair on the kitten to get it any earlier.
And i would avoid anything you don't fancy doing the cleaning of because no chance in hell a 3-year old will do it.
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