By Annie Evans, On 1/29/10 5:23 PM
Curriculum of the Day: Animals When I was pregnant, we read that the best way to keep your children from having allergies to pets is to have animals around from the moment they're born. We took this advice very seriously since we are both pet lovers. At one time in elementary school, I had twenty-four mice, four gerbils, two hamsters, two rabbits, two ducks and a chameleon. Marty had dogs, cats, and a variety of smaller species. I wanted to be a veterinarian and go to Cornell when I was a kid until I discovered tap dancing.
Once the girls were born, our little dog Nell continued to sleep in our bed despite the addition of two smaller bundles that smelled strangely human. To Nell's delight, she soon learned that these bundles spit up when they made burping sounds. Nell loved to clean up that spit up wherever she could—on sheets, clothes, and babies' faces. She figured out that whenever she heard a burp, it meant potential goodies and she'd come running. Our biggest worry with our 120-pound Bernese Mountain Dog, Beary, was that he would unintentionally step on them. He never has. And now, the girls have learned the joy of feeding Beary at the table. They hand him puffed cereal and he sucks it right out of their hands.
As you can see, she is enthralled and he always uses a soft, gentle mouth to take them. Our worry now is that Lyra will never eat anymore since it is much more fun to feed the dog. Our gray cat Ruby loves to jump on the table, which the girls also find very entertaining. Ruby is a love nut, and will endure severe ear pulling and face grabbing until she finally can't take it and dashes away.
Lyra has taken to playing pony with Beary.
So far, no allergies seem to have surfaced. And they seem to love animals, too.
