One of my life goals is to own not one, but maybe hundreds of little furry canines so I can always feel loved. This may seem odd, but their little snuggle times are honestly the best because it seems like you are the only person they want. Animals played a huge part of my life due to the fact that it never seemed like the house was without one; it got to the point where there was over ten in the house. With all these balls of fur, there comes great responsibility that teaches not only adults but children how to care for another living being. My idea of this is that I would rather own an animal of any kind over having a child, but that's my own view for multiple reasons yet children should own a pet no matter what.
A great gift of joy is when children get to name their little pet that they got to pick out, which usually is a played out name like 'Fluffy' or 'Spot'. This makes children get an idea of creativity that fills their sense of mind even if the name is overrated. For me, I once spent two weeks reading a HUGE book strictly about dog breeds because I wanted one. I looked up breed after breed, learning about each one just to be able to present them to my parents to even possibly get a new puppy. This brought so much knowledge to my young mind and let me know so much history about the breed that I now only own. All this thought and research that one child can gain will make them realize the time and effort that needs to be put in for even wanting to pick out one, which is the make it or break it time.
When getting the pet of choice, I will say a dog for the sake of this, a person has to have the patience to be able to train the puppy properly. I was always the one to take the puppy out when it needed to go potty, so every thirty minutes for like ten minutes at a time. This was the most time consuming job because they literally have the bladder of a pea and their poo is so nasty and I usually had to clean it up when it happened inside. Children, and adults, learn a lot from this because it shows how much someone else relies on you and that you cannot be selfish and lazy and let them do as they please. I personally feel like the patience is something that people gain from this experience because it shows the children a sense of responsibility as they have something dependent on them.
The love of an animal is a huge impact on people also, but the fact is, people need to learn how to love unconditionally. When people get an animal they need to know that they have to take care of it instead of putting it off like it is something we can write off. The issue that people need to realize is that animals are a huge priority once we get once solely for the fact that the depend on humans, especially when they are domesticated. They are ones that always love us, but we put them out because see them as a sport or a toy. Honestly, pets as play a huge impact on children because they learn how to treat them and it will help later when they attempt to create their own family. The love of an animal has so many uses and it helps because their kisses make it all worth while.