Child with ADHD and pets?

[Calla]

Hi!

I'm trying to find out what experiance people have with children and pets. We want to buy a dog (Berner Sennen), but a lady told us that she had never given away a puppy to a family with a child with ADHD. That made us very sad, and want's to hear other people's opinion. The boy is 10 years old and the biggest problems is at school.

Hope someone can help me...

[Nattu2]

Hi Calla, I work with people with special needs and may be able to help.

I think pets are good for children. But at the same time I can understand the concern about the welfare of the dog and also the safety of the child. For example if play becomes too rough, or the dog just wants to be left alone, he may end up biting your son out of frustration.

I think you've got to use your own honest judgement about the severity of your son's condition before you take on a pet.

The most important thing he needs to understand is that dogs have to be treated with respect and that they will bite him if he teases them.

I think you should observe his behaviour with other people's dogs for a while before you commit to buying your own. Maybe offer to look after a friend's dog for a week and see how he gets on with it. Only get a dog if you are 100% confident that he can be trusted to play with it safely without supervision, and then opt for a placid breed.

I hope this is helpful to you, good luck!

[RavenRose]

One of my cousins has ADHD and he does scare one of my dogs and one of my mom's, but the other two are fine with him. The two that he scares are a little skittish with everyone that they don't know very well and haven't been around kids as much as the other two. But, he's been told that he scares them by being hyper and he calms down a little when around them. So, in all honesty, I think it helps him to be around them... he actually stops and thinks about the fact that he can't be hyper. Plus, if you were getting a puppy, the puppy would grow up with him and would be more used to him. But, like Nattu said, you'd still have to be careful.... YOU need to be 100% confident about the situation.