How do you get children involved in caring for a dog?

In themselves, pets don’t make children more responsible. However, sharing out the tasks associated with caring for your pet is an important educational tool that can help develop a sense of responsibility in the child, improving his patience and self-esteem and helping him understand and respect the fact that other individuals also need to be fed, cared for and loved.

In sharing out the tasks, the first step is to draw up a list of all the tasks that have to be carried out and when. The table headed "Dog care tasks for the family" will help you prepare this list.

Then you have to establish who will carry out each task, remembering that the tasks have to be achievable for children so that they can help them feel proud of their achievements. Once the tasks have been established, it’s important to show children how to carry them out, which may involve splitting them into smaller parts. Then you have to allow the child to repeat them and have enough time to make mistakes and learn from them. You also have to define from the beginning what happens when children properly perform the tasks assigned to them.