do you think animals should be allowed around babies/kids

i had to give away my dog when Paris was 1 because she was starting to pull his tail, and i was afraid he would go for her plus it was'nt fair on him

since then iv had no pets... to be honest you never know when a dog/cat or any other animal may turn, even if it has been part of the family for years


your views?

We have 2 cats Had them for years b4 we even thought of having babies couldnt do with out them they are part of the family. They are very tollerent but jaiden and sophia are very gentle with them jaiden learnt the hard way he wouldnt leave 1 of them alone so she gave him a pat on the hand (no claws out) and that was enough 4 him But Sophia stokes really gently bless her. They are not allowed in the kiddies bedrooms they all know their limits cats and kids

We've got a 5 year old cocker spaniel and before we had Rosie he was like the baby and we weren't sure how he'd cope with a real baby around, but 19 months on he's fine. He actually has a better life now, I work part time so spend more time with him, and we walk for miles most days with the pushchair which wears him out.

The two of them have a funny old relationship and is getting better now she's older, so I'm hoping it'll continue to improve.

They're never left in the room alone, he knows if I leave the room, he has to follow. Normally if she goes to touch him, he moves away so she doesn't get much opportunity to grab him, and if she does its normally to give him a cuddle.
He has Rosie well trained and she's forever stealing treats of out his cupboard, and she always saves the last bite of her food for him to have.

I know to never say never and if anything did happen to cause him to turn then we'd re-think his place in the family, but for now I trust him.
My mum lost a jack russell just before I fell pregnant, she was a lovely dog, but I wouldn't have trusted her to go anywhere near Rosie.

We have 2 dogs, Denny is a Jack Russell who is almost 3 and Biggles is a Yorkshire terrier who is 8

They don't often allow her to stroke them, only really when they are sat by me - she does now know how to stroke and be gentle. If they are sat on the sofa and she comes she tends to squeal with excitement so they just run off!

Denny absolutely loves playing with her but Biggles doesn't play at all. They both wait by her highchair as she feeds them things if they aren't sent out!

I think its important that when a family have pets that they teach the child how to treat the pet - Izzy only strokes them when she is with me and she knows to be gentle now. If she wasn't taught this, or wasn't allowed to with them, then I think the situation could be different - she might not know how to stroke them , they might be wary of her..and that might be a problem.

I think animals and children can be fine together, my dogs have never shown aggression towards any person, and I have no reason to believe they would be aggressive towards her. I cant say I trust them 100%, after all they are dogs who can be unpredictable - but as far as I am concerned she is safe with them - some may think that is wrong, I don't.

I grew up with dogs, big dogs, puppies, older dogs..we played and pulled on their tails and they never hurt us.

They are sometimes left in the same room, for example if they are asleep on the top of their sofa I am not going to wake them up and send them out while I make a cup of tea..what I never wanted to happen was them to feel put out by Isabelle being here, if they were sent out constantly from a room because she was there then they would feel like they were no longer part of the family.

We even have a a 'get the baby' game where I tell Denny to get the baby and he runs straight at her and turns at the last second and she thinks its hilarious, some people might find that really bad!

We have 2 cats and tbh i never even contemplated gettjng rid of them. I grew up with always knowing pets in my life and think owning animals from a young age is good for children and teaches them kindness and gentleness. C was taught gentle gentle right from the second she could reach for the cats and today is very good at very lightly petting them

We have got 3 cats and they are all great with Aimee.

They are not allowed in her room, but to be honest, they would rather sleep outside than go anywhere near where she can get hold of them.

They do let her stroke them when we are around and are well behaved. But, I would never trust them 100%, as with any animal.

My MIL has a dog who Aimee loves, and it is the same there. He is a lovely collie, but you just dont know so she will never be left alone with him x

I have a staffie who we've had since he was young he's now about 11'ish now and although we know him inside and out and is the most loving, affectionate and playful dog, I would never allow him and my LO to be in the same room together.

They are always on opposite sides on the baby gates, If they were in the same room together its only when we are having fun time with the dog, even when i'm in the kitchen the dog goes out cos I just can't keep my eye on them all the time.

I have always grown up with dogs, but I was a good 6-7yrs old when we got our 1st family dog which was a Doberman But i had learnt to respect them etc by that age.
In my eyes you just never know what an animal, be it cat, dog or what ever- is thinking or how they would react in a particular situation. Baby's, toddlers and kids even just don't understand..pulling and tugging..it will only take so much.
Also, even though Harry (our dog) is as nice as pie, he's a hefty thing and just simply jumping about in excitement he'd knock our LO flying.

We've never been in a situation where we would have considered getting rid of our dog tbh, right from day one they have been kept separate, but our dog shows no malice, jealousy etc towards our LO and even when our LO is in bed we make special time for the dog too

Oliver is really getting into animals at the moment and we often visit pet shops, farms, zoo's etc so am hoping that he'll grow up with a general curiosity for them but also have respect for them and be aware of any dangers, the way I was brought up.

I agree that children should be around animals, I feel it's important for them to understand how to deal with them.

However, we had a springer spaniel, we'd had her since she was a pup of only 7 weeks and she was 4 when Libby was born. To begin with she was OK, would just kind of ignore that fact that Libby was there but as soon as Libby was on the move and would go near her, Lulu (dog) would bark right in Libby's face and we felt it was only a matter of time that she snapped (even though she was a lovely dog, I just didn't feel comfortable). It was the hardest decision we've ever had to make but we found a lovely home with a single lady with lots of land. Luckily we know the daughter and I often see her and ask how she is - and she doing fine. Sorry went off a bit there!!

Anyway, we now have an outdoor cat, he is always in the garden when we are and Libby loves him (even though he has 'attacked' her a few times ) So yes I think it's great for children to be around animals (phew ot there in the end ) xx

We've got two cats and have never encountered any problems! One cat enjoys been petted, pulled and stroked by ellie but the older cat kind of keeps out of her way. I think it nice for children to have pets.

My dogs and cats are part of the family and Wil is being taught to respect them and treat them properly.

I would never get rid of them because I believe it is good for children to be around animals for so many reasons apart from which I love them dearly and couldn't dessert them