HOW HAPPY ARE YOUR PETS?

[angeldelight]

Most of us have pets

We all worry that parents might be put off sometimes

But what about your pets ?

Are your pets happy with children running around all day ?

Do your animals get scared ?

My dog was sloppy and didn't care but my cat hides ha ....the rabbits are fine too .

Have you ever had a bad experience where a child has hurt one of your beloved pets ?

Angel xxx

[AliceK]

My dog spends most of the day in the kitchen unless I'm out then she has the run of the house. She is soppy and spends most of the day asleep, I'm sure she's happy. My cats tend to either spend their time in the garage but if they're in the house they have the option of going upstairs if they want to get away. My rabbits are outside (in the garage now it's getting colder) so they don't care.
All the children are taught to be gentle with my pets and it's in my policy that intentional cruelty to any of my pets is grounds for immediate termination of contract. So far all the children are gentle although sometimes the younger ones get a bit OTT, usually with the cats so I just remove the cats to safety.

xxxx

[Mouse]

Our cat lives outside most of the time. He goes out at night, only coming home in the morning as the children are arriving. I'll often go to the door and find him waiting there with a child! He'll give them a quick sniff, have his breakfast, then head off to bed till lunchtime. Apart from the sniffing the children, he sounds a lot like me as a teenager

He never really bothers with the children & they don't bother with him. He doesn't like crying babies, so will run a mile if he hears one.

[singingcactus]

I keep my snakes locked away from the children, I would never risk my beautiful snakes being harmed by childish roughness. My rabbits are currently outside and live in the compound. The older children may occassionaly have access at my discretion to offer veg or sit down and stroke one of them. When the rabbits are inside, if they are in the main floor the children may stroke them gently if the rabbit goes to them. If the rabbots are in the bedroom (a fenced off area) the kids MUST leave them alone. The gerbils live in a tank in the play room, the kids can, again at my discretion, offer treats and habitat enhancements, but that is it. The snails tend to get looked at then ignored. If the cats go to the kids they can pet them. They are not allowed to pick them up though. Again they can offer treats, toys etc. If the cats move away from the kids then they MUST be left alone.

If my rules are broken then I do read the riot act. My animal rules are rarely broken. It is only ever the cats who are the 'victims' of over enthusiasm, and they are weaponised for their own protection. We have a look, love and leave policy on all animals we see, even the humble spider or beetle. It is repeated amd repeated here. You can look, you can admire, you can love it or hate it, and you can walk away and leave it where you found it. The end.

[lizduncan72]

My dog loves having the kids around she greets them all with a happy, waggy tail when they arrive in the morning. If the younger ones get too boisterous with her she just disappears and heads to bed! The kids love having her around too, one wee boy says she's his best friend and tells people he's going to her house not mine lol

[loocyloo]

the cat doesn't know about having a peaceful life! he curls up and goes to sleep where he likes ... sometimes waking up to find he has been tucked up with the dolly blankets! or he will sit on a willing lap at storytime/after tea which they all love! ( I have been known to move him along several laps! )

however, I have the same rules at singing cactus - generally - if the cat goes to the child, then they can stroke the cat, but we don't chase the cat or pick it up.

the guinea pigs are only handled by myself during the day, but the LO do like to feed them their greens through the bars on the cage. as its cold, the piggies are inside and live in the playroom and often sit on their 'viewing platform' and pass comment on what the children are doing! Squeak in particular does a lot of conversational wheeking asking for more greens! occasionally we have a stroking session, but heavily supervised by myself. depending on who is here, we might have the piggies out after tea, as 2 of my schoolies have piggies too and are used to the wriggling! they seem quite happy.

[emma04]

Most of us have pets We all worry that parents might be put off sometimes But what about your pets ? Are your pets happy with children running around all day ? Do your animals get scared ? My dog was sloppy and didn't care but my cat hides ha ....the rabbits are fine too . Have you ever had a bad experience where a child has hurt one of your beloved pets ? Angel xxx

I changed all of the pet bits to HUSBAND! I had a right laugh to myself!

[Velleity]

DaveDraw.jpg

Baby Dave and Mindee (2) playing AquaDoodle together just now ^_^

[TooEarlyForGin?]

I changed all of the pet bits to HUSBAND! I had a right laugh to myself!

Good one, my DH is more grumpy than my dog, so fits better.

[vickylou]

My Westie adores the kids, she runs into the room in the morning to see whose arrived then chases off to get her ball and barks at them to throw it for her, this goes on all day, she trains the babies to throw the balls!!! My 18 month old now has a very good throwing arm due to early training from Bonnie!! At weekends she's miserable and mopes around! So yes she's definitely happy

[clareelizabeth1]

I keep my dogs out the way so i don't have to worry about them, the cat does her own thing outside.

The chickens and sheep run a mile.

But the pigs well now they love an apple and a belly rub.

[Mrs Scrubbit]

My old cockatiel spends most of his day sleeping but will often wake up to join in with our singing and dancing sessions, however he does get scared when the children dance using the ribbons ,he makes a weird little crying sound so the children are reminded to dance with them at the far end of the room, I think its because the ribbons cause shadows and to birds this is often the first warning sign they get of a stalking bird of prey............................daft old bird we've had him 15yrs but he is quite a character, he goes bananas when Neighbours is on the telly must remind him of his ancestors xx

[Daisy De]

My two dogs and one cat are very much part of my setting, I would and have suggested people go elsewhere if I get vibes that my animals are an issue. As all my advertising mentions them extensively, people really shouldn't get to sit in my lounge for an initial meeting unless they are happy with the setup. I fully appreciate some people don't like animals for a variety of reasons and that's absolutely fine but they would be best to go elsewhere.

My cat normally stays out the way but he will come in and have a look whats going on. Like someone else said if he goes up to the children with supervision I let them stroke him but cats are unpredictable by nature so I teach the children to only touch him on his terms.

My 2 Golden Retrievers are usually in the middle of things. All the children respect them, do not climb on them or pull them in any way so the dogs don't fear the children but do see them as dominant pack members meaning they are submissive to the children. Even the littiest mindee can get them to sit, stay etc. They seem to adore the children being there, my 3 year old dog is very affectionate and gentle and will sit next to a child for as long as the child wants to stroke him. I'm thinking of registering him as a PAT therapy dog he would be brilliant.

Saying all that I never leave them unsupervised and they do go in the other room when we eat or we are doing something where they would get in the way purely because they always want to join in! Also they do have a room where they can go if they don't want to be around the children but generally I think they love the children being here.

As my own children are grown up my animals get a lot of quiet time so I think they love the mindees being here and the general mayhem during the day