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Why, I ask you, why, why, why do kids think they need pets? Oh, and by the way, a pet is not classified as a fish or a hamster, because we HAVE those and apparently they don’t count.
Further, why as parents, are we guilt-ridden if we don’t comply and GET them a pet?
Last Saturday we bought a cat. We were told (and like morons, we believed) that Siamese cats produced less dander and are hypoallergenic. Whatever. Our four year-old was so swollen she looked like a frickin sumo wrestler. Through her nasal-congested misery, she mournfully cried over the loss of her feline friend on Sunday when it was returned. Even though she was thoroughly and completely afflicted by said Siamese, she STILL wanted to keep it.
So we decided no cats.
I have been considering allowing a dog in our home again. The last one costs us thousands of dollars because we apparently thought we could house an Alaskan Husky on .14 acres. Tala, the husky, quickly let us know the lack of space was unacceptable. She chewed-up shoes, furniture, ripped-up our carpet, demolished our landscaping, and made me frickin crazy. Because we are super-duper smart, we kept the dog for an entire year. Even though some time has passed, I still feel some post-traumatic-stress when I think of Tala.
So, tonight we continued our quest for self-abuse by looking for another dog. We had the pleasure of meeting a cute little Shih Tzu that bit my four year-old daughter on the face. WHAT?!
My poor little sweetheart cried all the way home. As soon as we got home she asked, “Can we find another dog?”
Oh my frickin heck. I think we need some serious counseling.
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My son is just like that. Pets are VERY high on his priority list and truthfully, they are probably his best friends. I think I’d really be depriving him of something important if I didn’t let him have his pets.
Sometimes you just have to try some different combos until you find the right one. We had almost that same dog and the minute he bit my son, he was a goner.
You might try different cats – I’m highly allergic to some kinds while other kinds don’t bother me a bit. Try her with your friend’s cats and see which ones give her a problem. Older, calmer pets are always a better choice for little ones too.
Thanks for the feedback, Adrian. Perhaps we should only look at older, calmer pets.
Our 13 year-old sounds like your son. Her world revolves around pets, and our four year-old is turning out the same way. They talk to, love, snuggle and adore anything with four legs.
Interesting about the dog biting your son. Perhaps it is a breed characteristic?
We don’t do pets, plain and simple. We’ve done fish and still have one alive but I’m counting the minutes til that guy croaks too. We tried the puppy thing but I ended up doing the training and cleaning and that was that. We have one daughter who ADORES animals so we let her play with the neighbors’ cats, dogs, what have you. AND we’ve told her she can have whatever pets she likes when she moves out!
Great idea, Emily. We need to send our kids to the neighbors and let them play with THEIR pets (as long as they don’t bite.) I seriously want to bite that dog back!
If your looking for a hypoallergenic dog that is great with kids and compact. Research the Havanese. We’ve owned one now for over 3 years and love her. They are great lap dogs BUT also love to run like crazy with the kids outside. They are also very easy to train!
Hope that helps
Saskia
Thanks for the tip, Saskia. If I get the courage to keep looking, we will check-out Havanese dogs. My perfect dog weighs less than 10 pounds, doesn’t shed, and is very trainable. It sounds like a Havenese could be a good fit. For now, I am going to take a little break. Tonight was a little traumatic for me!
Oh and I forgot to mention, my sister-in-law is highly allergic (breaks out in hives) and they come and stay with us over the holidays for 2 weeks and she has never had an reaction to our dog…
Resilient little critters our kids are eh??
good luck with this!
Well you know how I much I love my dog, so of course I’m frickin biased about all of this. Tell your kids they can come over and play with Kingston anytime they want.