Comments:

1. We have 2 miniature dachshunds, and we have somehow collected 3 outside cats. G likes to watch the dogs playing, and he barks with them . He points to the cats when we're outside, and he bounces in my arms when they get close. He absolutely LOVES getting to touch any/all of them. The dogs are still puppies (about 7 months old), and they still get excited and lick -- a lot. We just don't let them get in G's face (and we wash his hands after he's played with them). So far, we've avoided scratches and bites (I guess we'll deal with that when/if it happens). The dogs can get in bed with us if they want, and Annie is almost always under the covers at the foot of the bed. Nixi is usually curled up at the foot of the bed or in their bed on the floor. I don't have a problem with them sleeping in bed w/ G (we're co-sleeping, so it's a nightly thing)... I just don't want them sleeping right next to him. We change our bedding 2+ times a week, so their hair isn't a big problem. I'm don't have a problem with other people's pets, as long they're very kid friendly. G doesn't get solitary interaction with any animals (and won't until he learns to not pull hair/put his hands in his mouth).      by KeelyKay
   
2. Do you have them?Yep. 2 dogs. 1 outside and 1 inside (my baby girl poodle)
   
   What type of or how much interaction do they have with your child(ren)?Darek tortures her, they fight like real brother and sister. As for E--right now she will lay beside of him. She thinks she is his Mommy. When he cries she has to sniff him and bark at me. If I'm making his bottle while he's throwing a demon fit she'll jump on her hind legs and scratch my legs. She will lick right behind his ear but won't get in his face. She growls at ppl that she's not use to when they get close to him. She's wonderful.
   
   How do you feel about licking on the mouth?That is a no-no for us. I don't let her lick me in the mouth and sure wouldn't let her lick E in the face period. Luckily she doesn't try.
   
   Small scratches and/or bites?She bites us but only in a playing way. The only person she has ever biten and meant it is Darek...I'm sure he deserved it. I wouldn't tolerate her biting E period until he gets big enough to understand and know better than to do certain things to her. She is a very sweet dog and wouldn't bite anyone unless they were being mean to her.
   
   Sleeping in the same bed with you or your child(ren)? I wouldn't mind but she is so small--4lbs--and I'm afraid one of us would roll over and hurt her.
   
   How do you feel about other people's pets getting near your child(ren)It depends. I wouldn't let any dog around my kids that is mean and would bite for no reason. If it's a friendly dog and good with kids, that would be fine.
   
   death of a pet. How do you explain that to a young child?Darek was 4 when we had to have our pup put to sleep (she had distemper) and I told him that she went to Heaven.
   
   It probably will be hard on J for awhile if your kitty dies. You could tell him that she went to sleep or something that goes along with your religious beliefs. Maybe something along the lines of when kitties get a certain age they have to go away to a place where they can play with lots of other kitties. Good luck if/when it ever happens. Death is a very hard thing for us as adults to understand, it's especially hard on kids.      by HeavenLeigh
   
3. I grew up with dogs and a cat but currently the only pet we have is a very unwanted field mouse. He and his friends take turns living in our fireplace :roll:
   
   I love pets, worked at PetSmart for 4 years. My mom has 2 dogs, my dad one. Mom's are a 10 year old lab mix (60+ pounds) and a 6 year odl beagle (shortlegged 20 pounds), Dad's is a pit bull mix (2 different kinds of pit) who is 7. We had a tabby cat for 17 years too, plus when I was younger we had 2 outside dogs.
   
   I love all three dogs, but...
   the lab jumps and licks constantly... we used to be able to put a knee up to block her and now we cant (she had 10,000 $$ worht of surgery to her lungs and stomach), so she just jumps. I hate it and ask my mom to put the dogs in the garage (leads to the dog lot outside) but she doesn't. Says she feels mean doing it. In reality, her dogs are more important than me or my kid.
   My dad's pit is super sweet but she is a pawer.. paws for you to pet/give her attnetion... so I have to watch that she doesn't scratch my son.
   
   My MIL also has a dog, german shepherd mix, and ym only complaint about him is his hair (I have this complant at all 3 houses) ... no matter where we sit, play there seems to be tons of hair! The lab is double coated, the GS is just super hair/fuzzy, and the pit seems to shed a lot.
   
   Dander is an issue for my son as well.. and it is starting to be for me too.. sneezing and coughing and stuff.
   
   I try to keep all the dogs out of my son's face. These days he has dog anxiety, aside from the beagle, who is terrified of A (he's a big chicken). He fusses at them and if they sniff his toys/diaper bag, etc he squeals "MIIIIIIIINE!" at them and points to wherever they are sniffing. I do get aggitated when the owner isn't keeping their dog from licking my son constantly or scratching him. My mom made me incredibly angry one time because she yelled at my son for pulling the lab's ear when she (the lab) wouldn't leave him alone. I promptly yelled at my mom for not making her dog behave (Cassie, the lab, wouldn't quit licking him and bumping against him and all, and I was trying to hang a pic for my mom while SHE watched A), and picked my son up. My mom wanted me to apologize for yelling... to the dog! I rolled my eyes and started pciking up my son's toys so we could leave. Then my mom chilled out and it all blew over. I told her (over the phone.. she's much less a psycho that way) later that i thought she should visit my son at my house from now on so that there was no chance of him getting in trouble over the dogs. She told me I needed to teach him to behave (he was 11 months at the time). I simply told her that I know her dogs are her priority but my son and his safety are mine, and I let it drop. It was a few months before we were back over there.
   
   Anyhow... my mom's dogs sleep in the bed with her, but at least she keeps the play room (for my nephews and my son) and my old room (now the guest room) doors shut so there is less hair. My dad, on the other hand, lets his pit sleep any and everywhere so the guest room reeks like dirty dog (he keeps her clean but pits have a certain, yucky smell) and I have to either change the pillowcases (which offends him) or try to get all the hair off of the pillows and sleep with hairy covers, if I stay the night. But, its his house... I just hate to sit on the furniture or get int he floor with my son!
   
   If we did get a dog (have talked about getting a beagle like my mom's), and it ever even attempted to bite me or my son, for any reason,. it would be going to another home. My brother had one of his cheeks bitten off whenhe was little, froma family friend's dog.. it had nipped a few times but nothign major, but they didn't tell my momt hat. Well he decided he wanted my brother's hot dog, went for it and got cheek instead. It took hours of emergency surgery and then an additional surgery to get it reattached and everything.
   
   Later down the line, I probably would let a dog sleep with A if he really wanted it and was old enough to help me change his sheets more often. DH has already said, no pets in bed with us, although when we babysat his friends cats they slept with us (we also found out I am allergic to cats). SO...who knows, LOL!
   
   Death of a pet.. I have no idea honestly. I know a lot of people do the "pet heaven" thing but I don't think we would, because our faith teaches that only people (their souls) go to heaven, not animals. So, honestly, I am really unsure.
   
   As far as J, I'd wait until the time of the cat's death is closer. If your cat is freindly to other cats, maybe get a young cat (NOT a kitten) as time gets closer. Tell Jax that your cat wants a friend. It will help soften the blow when the time comes.. my parents did it with us for our dog. I remember holding one dog while I cried for the other one... but it did help me get over things and not dwell too much... make sense? GL with that one      by pink_elephant
   
4. Death of a pet, how to explain it to a young child:
   
   Right now, G is too young to even try to explain that to, but when he's older we'll probably (try to) explain death. I'll have to find some way (G's great grandparents are all in their 80's, so I'm sure we'll be doing a lot of talk on the subject). If he's too young to understand at all, we'll just tell him that the pet went to Heaven and won't be coming back. We may take him to pick out another pet to make the loss easier.      by KeelyKay
   
5. We have one cat and one guinea pig. Precious (my kitty) is my "baby" too, and before Kaitlyn was born I was all worried about how she would handle it, but she's done amazingly well. The first day I brought Kaitlyn home, she hopped up on the couch next to us, rubbed against me, sniffed K, and gave her a lick on the head. So much for freaking out. From then on, she's kinda "adopted" Kaitlyn as her own. She'll sleep in her room if I leave the door open, and in earlier days, would come get me when K would cry.
   
   Don't have to worry about kissing on the mouth because even if she did it, it's a very small tongue
   
   Scratches? Well, yes. Kaitlyn has had several since she got mobile. Most of the time it seems to be an accident, i.e. she's playing with a dangly jingly toy, Precious tries to play with it to, baby hand gets snagged. There have been one or two deliberate "LET GO OF MY TAIL HUMAN KITTEN!!" swipes, but they've been few and far between, and always (*snicker*) provoked. I don't freak about them because I grew up with cats, I grew up being scratched ever now and then, and obviously I survived fine.      by Angel78
   
6. I should add; Precious isn't allowed to sleep in the crib. She'll sleep on my bed with me, no problem (DH kicks her off, though). But never the crib. She got yelled at once, and she's never tried it again.
   
   A death? God knows. The first one I'll probably have to deal with is Sparrow the guinea pig, since they don't live as long as cats, but I seriously don't know what I'd say.      by Angel78
   
7. Do you have them?
   
   We've got 2 white, long-haired fluff ball cats inside and an orange tabby stray who has one heck of a nice heated home in our garage. The orange boy is super sweet and we used to let him inside on icky weather days, but now that DS is here, I try not to let him in since he is pretty dirty from playing and hunting outside. Sometimes he manages to sneak in, though, so I try not to stress over it too much.
   
   What type of or how much interaction do they have with your child(ren)?
   
   None of the cats seem to show much interest in DS. I think most of the time they like to pretend that he doesn't exist and that they are still rulers of the household. Obi cat is a gentle boy, though, and if DS cries in his crib he'll sit outside his room and meow sadly or even come get me. When we were sleep training, I totally felt like I was being judged by my cat.
   
   How do you feel about licking on the mouth?
   
   ICK! My cats lick their butts and catch mice. I don't want those mouths near DS's!!
   
   Small scratches and/or bites?
   
   I'll do my best to teach DS how to be gentle, but if he provokes them and gets a scratch, I suppose it will be a quick way to teach him not to pull tails or try to ride the kitty!
   
   Sleeping in the same bed with you or your child(ren)?
   
   Both cats sleep at the foot of our bed. I'm not worried about them trying to snuggle with DS because they're too fat and lazy to jump high enough to get into the crib.
   
   How do you feel about other people's pets getting near your child(ren)
   
   I don't usually have a problem with it because I know most people consider their animals family like we do, and we don't know anyone with violent pets. We did visit with some friends of friends once who had a rescue dog who was actually scared of DS. He was lunging and barking at DS viciously and the people just let him do it. I finally suggested that they needed to put their dog in a leash because he was clearly upset and it was a dangerous situation. They refused and actually got offended that I suggested it, so we left and have not had contact with them again.      by Tearianna
   
8. Oh, and as for telling DS about the death of a pet ... I suppose it depends on the age. My SIL tried telling her 7-yr-old that his goldfish was sleeping, but he knew it was dead and totally called her out on it. I think there is a point when you just need to explain death. I just don't know when that is ...      by Tearianna
   
9. 
   # Do you have them? No way. When I was a kid I had cats, lizards, turtles, snakes, salamanders, hermit crabs, fish, spiders--all sorts (my dad is a biology teacher). But my parents both hate dogs so I never got one.
   
   # What type of or how much interaction do they have with your child(ren)?
   I don't really care to deal with maintenance/cost of pets, but I suppose at some point my children will ask and I may have to succumb. No dogs unless I have a bigger yard though. Dogs and cats do not come inside my house.
   
   # How do you feel about licking on the mouth? Fine with me
   
   # Small scratches and/or bites? part of being a kid, if not from my pet then it will be from the neighbor's
   
   # Sleeping in the same bed with you or your child(ren)?no pets in the house unless they are caged animals, in which case the bed is out of the question
   
   # How do you feel about other people's pets getting near your child(ren) fine as long as they are not disease-ridden or violent      by B'sgirl
   
10. Do you have them?
    One dog who is my first baby but getting up there in age.
    
    What type of or how much interaction do they have with your child(ren)?
    My boys absolutely love their doggy but since she's getting older, she prefers her own space and likes to sleep a lot. She is always very patient with the boys as they can be rough so I always have to keep an eye out so I can protect her (my sons like to jump on her-we're working very hard on being gentle to doggy and jumping on her isn't nice).
    
    How do you feel about licking on the mouth?
    My mother gets totally disgusted but my doggie gives me kisses on the mouth all the time. My mom always reminds me that she cleans herself with her tongue
    
    Small scratches and/or bites?
    She has never bitten anyone or scratched anyone
    
    Sleeping in the same bed with you or your child(ren)?
    She sleeps with us in bed every night. DS1 asks me if she can sleep in his bed but she's very attached to me and always whins to get out of his room.
    
    How do you feel about other people's pets getting near your child(ren)
    I have taught my kids not to touch other peoples pets unless we get the okay from the owner that it's okay and I always supervise.      by nicolef888
    
11. Do you have them? We have one dog, Rory, a nearly two year old Boxer.
    
    What type of or how much interaction do they have with your child(ren)? He's Jayden's best friend. She plays with him all day long whether it's a game of dog show or police dog or dog pound. Dalin laughs at him whenever he sees him and I've caught him cooing at him once or twice.
    
    How do you feel about licking on the mouth? Jayden's a germaphob so I don't need to worry about that with her. He's not allowed to lick any of us on the mouth but after Dalin has eaten, he has cleaned Dalin's face more than a few times while I was off getting a washcloth.
    
    Small scratches and/or bites? If these were problems, the dog would be gone. It wouldn't be safe to have a 60 lb dog that bites when there are children (and their friends) around.
    
    Sleeping in the same bed with you or your child(ren)? Never. Rory sleeps in his kennel at night.
    
    How do you feel about other people's pets getting near your child(ren) Because Jayden's an animal lover, I've taught her that when she meets someone on the street who has a dog, she has to ask the owner if she can pet it. Hopefully that helps guard against accidental bites.
    
    The only family members with pets are the MIL and BIL. I don't trust their neurotic dogs around my kids so I try to keep the kids as far away as possible from the dogs when we visit.
    
    Trouble is, next weekend is Thanksgiving and because I'm hosting dinner the dogs are coming to our house. Chris just found out last week one of them has a case of fleas. But his mom told him, "Don't worry, they'll be gone by Saturday." Any suggestions on how to deal with that? I don't want fleas in my house!      by Hot Stuff
    
12. If your MIL uses something liek frontline, it wil take care of them within 24 hours. Otherwise, when she leaves get some carpet dust and a flea collar from Adams or another reputable brand (NOT HARTZ!) Cut the collar up and put it in your vacuum back/canister. Put the powder anywhere there could be fleas (mostly carpet) and then use a broom to get it all the way into the carpet and vacuum back up. As for your dog, use something liek frontline and Rory will be protected from the fleas.
    GL      by pink_elephant
    
13. Because Rory was at the kennel last month, we're in the process of deworming him. It's something we do every time he goes to the kennel because we have small kids. He had one dose of Revolution two weeks ago and another on Sunday. I read it protects against fleas for 30 days so here's to hoping! Plus, I have a steam carpet cleaner. I cleaned the carpets yesterday in preparation for Thanksgiving but I'll do them again after the MIL leaves. Hopefully that'll keep my house flea free.      by Hot Stuff
    
14. I don't mind my dog playing or licking my son. The two of them love playing with each other and bring so much joy to each other.      by nailsbylaura
    
15. Do you have them? Yes, Two 5 year old cats and a 3 year old dog
    
    What type of or how much interaction do they have with your child(ren)? The cats could care less for the most part. The dog is out and about 70% of the day with us, so they interact a lot. Mostly the dog stays away but when we are playing on the floor Lobo wants to play too. He has been pretty good with Alex but we watch him very carefully because he can be a bit tempermental
    
    How do you feel about licking on the mouth? Ewww. No. He'll sniff his face and stuff, I don't worry about that. Any blatant licking would be stopped
    
    Small scratches and/or bites? Haven't had to deal with this. Scratching wouldn't bother me. All animals up to date on shots as is Alex! I would just clean them up and stuff. Bigger scratches, I don't know. Any bite of any kind and Lobo would sadly have to find a new home. I won't tolerate any biting of my kids by the animals. Playful, fine but dogs can turn too quickly.
    
    Sleeping in the same bed with you or your child(ren)? Our cat used to sleep with us. Alex sleeps in his own crib in his room. Once he's older if an animal adopts him and wants to sleep there fine, obviously not now. Dog sleeps in his crate.
    
    How do you feel about other people's pets getting near your child(ren) I haven't come across that situation but I would ask the owner if the dog was "safe". I would get down on the dog level with Alex in my lap and pet the dog. Alex is still at the grabbing stage so I would limit the contact he would have with the dog. Any time I have Alex playing with our dog I am holding him in such a way that I can wisk him out of the dogs way within miliseconds. It would be the same with a different dog.
    
    
    MY PSA: NEVER NEVER NEVER LEAVE A DOG ALONE WITH A BABY OR OLDER INFANT. NEVER TRUST THE DOG WITH YOUNG CHILDREN THAT CAN"T PROTECT THEMSELVES.      by dmickey28