Dogs not only keep us fit and offer unconditional love and companionship, they can also teach kids how to be responsible. Caring for a living thing gives them a real task that they can benefit from. They will learn what it feels like to have a living creature rely on them, and that teaches responsibility in a way that little else can.
Of course, it depends on the age of the child, but really every child can help care for a dog in some way. Younger kids can alert you when the dog's water bowl needs to be refilled or help with brushing the fur. Older kids could help put the dog’s toys away at the end of the day with a trick I will explain later on. Young and older children can exercise the dog. Playing fetch, running, or rolling around will give dogs and kids exercise, and strengthen the bond between them.
Whenever my nieces are over at our place, they love to play with our two dogs, Ellie and Dobby. In fact, these two pups seem to have a magical aura around them that attracts children everywhere. Each time we take a walk through the park, kids come asking us if they could pet our dogs. Great thing they are asking – that was the first thing I explained to my nieces when teaching them how to treat dogs. Kids need to know that they cannot touch any dog; they always need to ask the owner first.
Playing is something both kids and dogs really enjoy so I let my nieces do one of the tricks our dogs know. All you need is a shoe box, some small plastic bottles or really anything a dog could fit into the box. We trained our dogs to put these things into the shoe box by saying "Tidy up!". The girls were handing out the treats and I could see how proud and happy they were.
Plus, tidying up their own rooms at home became a fun activity rather than a boring chore. Ellie and Dobby are eager to help the girls with that whenever we come visit.
It was great to see the kids really interacting with Dobby. They aren't afraid at all and he is very gentle with his mouth and teeth. Have a look!