How to teach young ones (humans that is)

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beefstu2000

Post   » Wed Jul 01, 2009 12:28 pm


Hi everyone,

I recently began dating a woman who has children. Her youngest is 3.5 years old. His comprehension of questions asked of him is good, but his verbal communication skills are lacking, so it is difficult to have a normal conversation with him. Plus being at that age, he is shall we say, hyper.

Anyways, the first time he saw my guinea pigs, he tried to pick one of them up as if it was a cat, by the scruff of the neck. Luckily, my gf was able to stop that before anyone got hurt.

Does anyone have any suggestions or experience on how to teach a younger child how to treat an animal correctly? Especially a child who may (or may not) have a learning disorder?

So far, in order to protect my boys, I have had to install a lock on the top of my C&C cage in order to keep him out from the gp cage. Although it is a luggage lock, it is strong enough to keep him away. However, instead of just keeping them apart from each other, I think it would be better to teach him. I have 2 guinea pigs, one is older and more relaxed. The other is younger, and thus more exciteable.

Thank you for your help everyone.

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rshevin

Post   » Wed Jul 01, 2009 12:58 pm


I think your first instinct to keep them separate is a good one. You're preventing a negative experience. You're also right to want to teach him how to behave around animals at a young age. With children at the children at the shelter this is what I learned. I would pick only your calmest pig and hold him on your lap on the floor. Human Boy (HB) can pet this pig with 1 finger as long as he's able to stay calm. So if that's 10 seconds then good. You sit, HB pets pig, HB gets distracted and piggie goes back in his cage for a while. Lather, rinse, repeat. You may also slice some baby carrots and let HB give piggie a treat sometimes. I would hope that HB's mom would have some insight on how to best help him learn as well. It's worth having a discussion about.

magicmoo

Post   » Wed Jul 01, 2009 1:27 pm


I would be inclined to keep the lock on the cage until such time that you feel the human boy can be trusted to treat your pigs correctly.

Rshevin has some fantastic ideas, which I would go with, but I would also try good old-fashioned learn by example. If the human boy is over at your house hold one of your boys, whilst all the time telling him to "look how gently I scooped him up, supporting his tummy whilst my other hand supports his bottom". He could then 'help' you by getting some treats and washing them for you, for him to feed to the pig.

It could take a long time, although I personally wouldn't let a child even try to pick a pig up until they were at least 9, and then with my hands underneath as a support. Maybe in a few years he could sit with a pig in a cuddle cup.

Fourboys4now

Post   » Wed Jul 01, 2009 1:59 pm


I think it's so important for young children to be taught how to properly hold and love on animals. My daughter has been helping love on piggies since she was three.

She has such a tender heart for all animals. I think if more kids were exposed to animals in positive ways as young children their would be much less violence in the world.

Augrae

Post   » Wed Jul 01, 2009 2:23 pm


We haven't adopted our piggies yet, but we do have both a 6 year old and a nearly 3 year old and I can tell you what our plans are for when the piggies come home. I don't think there's a sure-fire way to teach kids since they're all different, but I'll be watching this thread myself for more ideas!

First, the lock on the cage is a great idea. We have a covered cage and will be slapping a lock on the first time we have any inclination that our oldest might be considering getting into the cage, which both kids have already been told is a no-no. The lid (6' of wire shelving) is still too heavy for our 3 year old.

When it is time for the kiddos to have contact with the guinea pigs, our rule is that only adults can pick them up or carry them. They can pet gently while the adult holds them (both of them did well with this at a shelter nearby).

As the guinea pigs get more used to having the kids around, I also have a few cuddle cups for "lap time". If the kids are calm enough and the guinea pigs are willing, the kids might be able to sit on the floor with a cup on their legs while mommy or daddy holds the cup in place. It would give the kids the feeling of "holding" the guinea pig, but it would also give the piggie a little more security to have their feet flat beneath them and the cup edges to cuddle up against as well as giving me the security of knowing with my hands on the cup, I'm right there to give the kids quick instructions and "rescue" the piggie if needed.

We've already had the talk with both kids about not putting anything in the cage (food, toys, fingers, etc) without mommy or daddy's okay. I know the 6 year old understands this better than the 3 year old, but we'll be keeping a close watch and reinforcing the rules whenever he's near the cage. At 3 he does understand the concept of rules and if we see him put even fingers in the cage in the first day or two, we'll likely switch to "you can only give them things during floor time" so that they know more clearly what their limits are.

Hopefully their mom will have some good ideas for you too and can help you learn her kids' personalities well enough to know how different ideas would work for them. If my youngest was the same at 3 as my oldest was, we probably wouldn't even be considering guinea pigs right now, but my 3 year old is gentle and does really well with following directions.

Good luck and keep us posted.

User avatar
RavenShade
Thanks for the Memories

Post   » Wed Jul 01, 2009 3:21 pm


Keep the lock on for a while.

Under a controlled environment, YOU hold the pig and teach the children to "pet gently" and pet the right way. Until they are able to sit quietly and be trusted not to manhandle the pig, don't let the children hold the pigs or carry them around. We are working on "pet nice" with our cats. It will be quite a while before Junior gets to really play with the pigs. When the boy is older, try putting the pig on a towel or in a cozy for lap time.

jedifreac

Post   » Wed Jul 01, 2009 3:55 pm


I wouldn't let a 3.5 year old try to pick up a guinea pig at all--they don't have the motor skills/coordination! Some adults don't even have the right touch for it without practice. They're likely to drop the little guys or squeeze too hard and cause internal injury.

I would let them do floor time if they can sit still, gentle petting, and feeding, in an x-pen.

At around five or six I would then consider lap time.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Wed Jul 01, 2009 5:25 pm


Ditto RavenShade. Each child has to be evaluated on their own. I would not start right away with laps. This won't work with some kids who can't sit still or are not able to control their interaction and touch gently.

And ditto on not picking them up. No small child should do this.

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Sydspigsmom
Piggy Patron

Post   » Thu Jul 02, 2009 8:49 am


Maybe try getting him to understand how he appears to the guinea pigs. We have 4 children at home ranging in age from 6 to 12. When we adopted Todd and Flash I made up a story about an overly friendly giant to help them understand how our new guinea pigs view them. Once I had them all hooked into the story I made sure they understood that we are giants to guinea pigs. We then spent some time talking over how to gain Todd and Flash’s trust: talking quietly, no sudden movements, staying still until they come up to sniff us, etc. We also made some rules together about who is to feed and handle the guinea pigs. At this point only dad and mom are allowed to take them out of the cage whenever they like, the oldest two (once they were taught how) need to ask first and the youngest two are not allowed yet. They actually have referred back to this story a few times with each other. “You’re being a giant right now and Todd and Flash don’t like it.”

If he just can’t get enough of your guinea pigs, pick something that he can help you with. This will have him interacting with the guinea pigs on your terms rather than his. A simple “ Would you like to help me pet one, pick grass, feed them, etc.?” will go a long way in teaching positive interactions. Letting him help you with the simple things will also let you and your GF know when he is ready to help with more. I should add that our youngest is at best busy and at worst a tyrant, letting him help with our pets has really been good. I do agree that keeping the cage locked is a good idea! Grandpa built our cage like a fortress because, in his words, “I’ve meet your youngest.”

theamazingbox

Post   » Thu Jul 02, 2009 9:34 am


Keeping the cage locked is a good idea.

My nephew is 3.5 years old and has a learning disorder as well. He loves loves loves Raymond. So much, in fact, that last time he came to visit, he took me by the hand and led me to Raymond's cage without so much as saying a word to me!

I let him pet Raymond while he is in the cage under supervision. 1 finger and don't touch his eyes, I tell him. He is getting good at that, almost had an issue once when he tried to point out that Raymond had a 'peeny' just like him!

I have also put Raymond on his lap during floor time. Raymond is a big cuddlebug, and my nephew was too enthralled with the concept that he was holding 'his Raymond' to even pet him.

I guess you just have to take it one step at a time. Every child is different.

User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Thu Jul 02, 2009 11:15 am


That is cute, Sydspigsmom. I can see where it would be very helpful. I think this kind of thing builds empathy.

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codyNpatches
Supporter in '09 - '10

Post   » Thu Jul 02, 2009 12:01 pm


Our cage is in my 7 year olds room. It is open and he knows not to touch them unless I am with him. He is not allowed to pick the pigs up or put them back. He hasn't had any friends come to the house since we got the pigs, but when that time comes I will have to do something. My son isn't rough and some of his friends are. I definitely don't trust our neighbor's kid.

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