Using Pets as a Teaching Tool

By Suzanne Alicie

As a pet owner, you know that animals are entertaining, comforting and fun to have around, but did you realize that a pet is also a great teaching tool? There are several ways you can use your pet to help teach your children, either as a home schooling parent or just basic behavioral lessons.

Pets can be used to teach your children responsibility. Knowing that they are responsible for feeding, watering and giving attention to the pet will help your child establish a routine, and maintain day-to-day chores.

Pets can be used to teach children how to be kind, to protect those who are weaker than others, and basic empathy and compassion. Many times children who are used to playing with adults and other kids their age may not have any idea how gentle they need to be when playing with their pet. Sure, some dogs can take being tackled, but most run the risk of being harmed if a child plays too rough. Teaching your child to adapt their behavior in order to accommodate and respect the difference in stature, ability and personality will carry over to their interactions with other children and adults.

Pets make great teaching tools for home schooling parents. Learning about your dog’s metabolism, body structure and traits are just a few of the things you can integrate into your lesson plans. Think of a cat’s eye and the difference between that and a human eye; your children can learn so much about anatomy, bone structure, and other animal/human differences when you use pets as a teaching tool.

The nutrition that pets need is another way to use your pet as a teaching tool. Children will learn the differences between their food pyramid and the foods that a dog or cat needs to be strong and healthy. CANIDAE Natural Pet Foods provides detailed ingredient and nutritional information on all their products; you can use these labels to compare different formulas and to determine what is best for your pet.

With pets in the home, children can learn lessons about healthy fears that will serve them throughout their lifetime. The behaviors of dogs and cats when they are frightened, angry or cornered come with physical indicators. The raised hackles on a dog serve as a warning that children need to understand in order to avoid being bitten; the same goes for the hiss of a cat. There is a big difference between a phobia or unreasonable fear, and a healthy fear and the instinct of self preservation. It is important that children learn these things early in their lives.

These ways that pets can be used as educational tools are not a complete list by any means. Children with an affinity for animals will find their own educational and behavioral lessons from caring for their pet. A responsible pet owner is one who can see all the benefits of having a pet to love and care for. As adults and parents, we can help teach our children to be responsible pet owners in the future.

Read more articles by Suzanne Alicie

Lessons I’ve learned from My Cats

By Julia Williams

Pets are wonderful companions, but they can be great teachers, too. If you share your home with a pet, you’re probably being taught important life lessons by them every day. Usually, we’re so busy “being human” that we don’t stop to ponder life from our pet’s perspective. We don’t think about the things we could learn from our pets, but I think we should, because animals are wise beings with many messages to impart. Here are just some of the many lessons I’ve learned from living with cats:

1. Take pleasure in the simple things. Cats don’t need fancy toys or lavish homes to be content. Give them a paper bag and a cardboard box, and all is well. We humans don’t really need the latest, greatest gizmo to be happy either, but very often we’re so caught up in the pursuit of “things” that we don’t take time to experience life’s simple pleasures.

2. Don’t hold a grudge. Forgiveness is a hard thing for humans to achieve. Most of us know that being angry and resentful harms our bodies and our spirits, yet we struggle to forgive. I marvel at my cat’s ability to forgive so quickly. Moments after being harshly scolded for spilling my coffee, Rocky comes back for a pet as though nothing happened. If every human could forgive this quickly – just imagine what the world would be like. 

3. It’s okay to enjoy your food. My cats treat every meal as though it’s the most incredible food they’ve ever eaten. They don’t care that they get the same flavor of FELIDAE cat food every day – they devour it, and lick the bowl clean. Watching my cats eat has made me realize that food is meant to be savored.

4. Live for today. Cats don’t dwell on what happened yesterday or what might happen tomorrow – they live in the NOW. My cats have taught me to be more present in each moment, because this is where life happens, not last week or next month.

5. Trust your gut. Humans often try to rationalize a feeling or second-guess their instincts. Cats don’t wonder if that shadowy figure following them down a dark street is a danger to them– their instinct tells them to flee, and they survive because they do it. My cats have taught me to listen to my instinct, because it is always right.

6. If you want something, ask for it. Cats are definitely not shy about making noise to get what they want – they know that a tasty treat, petting or whatever else they desire is more likely to happen if they ask. My cats have taught me that people are not mind readers, and making a request is a better way to let them know I want something.

7. Patience and persistence pays off. When I lived in the country on many acres, I would often observe my cats sitting by a gopher hole for hours. This never ended well for the gopher. My cats have taught me that I need to keep forging ahead with a goal, even when it seems to be taking an inordinately long time to get to the finish line. 

8. Teach others how to treat you. If a cat doesn’t like something you’re doing to them, they make their objection known loud and clear. Humans sometimes keep quiet when they’re being mistreated, for many different reasons. My cats have taught me that it’s okay to speak out, and to never apologize for demanding to be treated with dignity and respect.

9. Pounce on every opportunity. I have a remote-controlled mouse toy that my cats love to play with. When it skitters across the floor in front of them, they don’t sit there pondering if they ought to give chase. My cats have taught me that if I see something I want, I need to leap into action immediately, because if I don’t it could get away.

10. Treasure every sunbeam, because you never know when a cloud might roll in.

11. You’re never too old to play. Even senior cats love to play – they might not do it with the gusto of a kitten, but they have fun nonetheless. My cats have made me appreciate the value of playtime, and I won’t stop having fun until I’m six feet under.

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