Saturday, April 7, 2012

Guinea Pigs - Cavies and Kids - Are They a Good Mix?

By Bob Matthews


If kids are older and moderately responsible, they can (and should) take on a role in the custody of your family's guinea pigs. With the words: O.K, we'll get a guinea pig - but you must take care of it, many parents are almost tempted to completely abdicate their pig care responsibilities and assign them all to the child. This is almost never a smart idea. While caring for any living being is a great learning opportunity (and the parent may even tell the kid that they are fully in control of the animal's health, safety and welfare); ultimately , the final responsibility must always remain with the responsible adult.



While full accountability for your pig's welfare should never be given to a very small child, it is actually a good learning experience to allot specific tasks to the youngsters in the family. If the jobs are a life-critical - such as those concerning food, water or supplements - the responsible parent must monitor the situation to be certain these obligations have not been neglected. Your pigs' lives rely on it! The parent should give occasional praise and positive reinforcements when the job is well done and they should give reminders and negative consequences when the job is neglected, forgotten or done poorly. Owning a pet is an excellent learning opportunity for your youngsters - but those lessons shouldn't come at the expense of your pet's health, safety or well-being.

If the task is less life-critical - like cage-cleaning or giving the guinea pig daily attention and exercise - then monitoring does not need to be as rigoruous. Nonetheless this does not mean that you can simply delegate the task and walk away. Remember that in the end the accountability for your pigs ' safety and well-being falls on you - the responsible adult. Also remember the monitoring of tasks is for two absolutely different and important reasons: 1) to insure the care, comfort and safety of your pet (s) and 2) to teach your youngsters to be responsible, caring and respectful pet-owners. So whether or not the task isn't important to your pigs ' health or safety, it is still an important part of your children's transformation into a responsible adult and community member.

It does not need to be said that tasks assigned to kids should be age-appropriate. That is, life-critical jobs should be assigned to older and more responsible children. Less critical tasks can be allotted to younger and less able children. In either case, be sure to stretch your child by letting them do everything that they're capable of and by intermittently adding new and harder jobs, but also be sure to give parental aid, coaching and guidance with any portions of the job that your child cannot perform correctly.

It's a great learning experience for children to be involved in the raising of a pet. Nevertheless all tasks assigned should be based on your children's age and ability. And at no point should you as a parent relinquish full responsibility in the situation. Ultimately , the accountability for your guinea pigs ' health, safety and welfare rests on your shoulders.




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