A friend just sent me these photos. They are so delightful that even if you are not an animal lover, you will smile. Enjoy!
Raising children with a love of animals is so important. It teaches responsibility ( feeding, entertaining, cleaning) and also what it feels like to receive unconditional love especially from a dog.
I grew up with a cocker spaniel and my mother also raised Rhodesian Ridgeback dogs. They are athletic, gorgeous to look at and strong willed but terrific with children. We have Rottweillers – and have had 5 over the past 20 years. Despite all the bad press that they get, they are the most amazingly loving, intelligent and family oriented dogs. They are less interested in other dogs than they are in people and love being with families. Our present dog is Sunny – and I have blogged about him a lot.
Of course we have lots of animals at our Little Farm – goats, chickens, quails, tilapia fish, and Sunny the dog. We have had multiple cats, but sadly the coyotes in our area tend to run off with them so we have stopped that. The coyotes are a little more reticent when they come across Sunny – who barks but leaves them alone. Here is Sunny exercising with my husband in the gym at the Little Farm.
Our former Rottweiler Belinda used to play with the coyote cubs – that was not a lot of help to us but it was rather cute of her.
Even if you cant afford a pet, or live in a place where they are not permitted or practical, take your kids to play with pets that belong to other families – it’s so important to have children feel comfortable around animals – it grows the love in them.
