For the past few days, Dylan has been talking a lot about animals. He has not said much about the lions, tigers, monkeys, and other jungle animals that we see in many of the books that we read or the movies that we watch. He seems acutely interested in domestic animals – cats, dogs, cows, and the like.
A couple of times, he has asked me to go for a walk or a drive in the afternoon for the specific purpose of finding cows that he can touch. Even though we live in Vermont, many of the farms near us are hard – working farms where the animals are generally out to pasture and not in a barn or other pen where visitors could interact with them. Today, as we were walking along the country roads near our home in search of cows, he started talking about wanting a dog. I made no promises or suggestions on the topic, I just let him talk about it. Of course, that conversation made me wonder when toddlers are developmentally ready for pets.
We had a cat at our house when Dylan was born, but then a stray decided to call our yard home and the two cats did not get along. Our first instinct was to bring the stray to a shelter or re – home him but no one seems to want an unneutered male cat whose origins (feral or abandoned) we are uncertain about. So, when Dylan was about a year old, Patrick moved to my in – laws’ house down the road to help them out with the mice that love to get into their pantry, and we named the stray No No Kitty. No No Kitty spent a lot of time in or yard until earlier this year. I think he’s still alive because I see him occasionally but I wonder why he doesn’t come around much. We are hesitant to bring Patrick back, in case No No Kitty returns because No No Kitty is very aggressive towards Patrick – that is precisely why he is named No No Kitty.
We visit with Patrick fairly often, and my in – laws also have a dog that Dylan likes. He does not like all dogs, though, so I was surprised at this new found interest in getting one. For example, when he visits Uncle Andy’s house, Dylan is easily overwhelmed by their pack of four dogs. Personally, I do not feel comfortable with the idea of getting a dog right now. I love dogs and I want a dog, just not right now. With a ten week old baby and a two and a half year old toddler, a puppy or a dog would just be too much for me to handle. That said, I don’t want to deprive Dylan of having a dog if it is important that he have one. Tomorrow, I will explore the issue of how to determine when is the best time to bring a pet into your family.
Photo by virginiamol on morguefile.com.