Everything you need to know about Pets for Kids by Kids.

I am absolutely thrilled to announce the soft launch of the Kids’ Pet Club site and the YouTube Channel for testing (the Youtube Channel will not show up with the correct URL until we have 500 subscribers which is very frustrating). Kids’ Pet Club is not quite everything you need to know about pets for kids by kids yet, but hopefully it will become a great resource. It is the start of an Online Content Hub for Pet-Loving Kids (ages 3-13) and families. We will be sharing age-appropriate educational, engaging and entertaining content, activities, and video series featuring pets and kids.

I love pets and have had dogs, cats, rabbits, mice, guinea pigs, lizards, gerbils, tortoises and fish. I enjoy sharing stories and information about Dogs and Puppies on my TV series and sites for Talent Hounds, Backseat Barkers and MyPugNation. There is no doubt in my mind how wonderful it is to bring pets and kids together. We have seen first hand the difference pets, particularly dogs, can make in hospitals, schools, libraries, homes, emergencies and courtrooms. They can help with autism, PTSD, anxiety, reading, illnesses and physical disabilities. They can also help reduce stress and allergies, and increase empathy and focus.

I believe it is important to teach kids about responsible pet care early. I did some research with kids and found they were getting a lot of entertainment and facts about pets on YouTube and online, but there did not seem to be centralized channels just for them, just on pets.

I thought it would be both fun and helpful to set up a hub for kids and empower them to laugh and learn about pets with us and also to become Ambassadors for their pets and share their knowledge and love of pets. I produced a popular TV series called Pop It! for a few years that featured kids teaching other kids to dance and found it very rewarding and effective. Kids generally love seeing themselves and their lives reflected. We are testing different content for different ages including mini documentary segments, information, activities and DIYs and also Dog Song Sing-Alongs and Read-Alongs for the younger kids. I hope that this site and content can build into a tremendous source of fun and facts for kids and care-givers.

My own rescue pug Kilo and his rescue pal Fishstick are featured, as well as lots of friends from Talent Hounds, a group of young Ambassadors and our animated characters Penny P Pug and Digger the Dachshund.

Thank you so much to the Bell Fund, the OMDC IDM Fund and Ethnic Channels Group for supporting the development of this passion project.

I am looking for feedback from kids, parents, experts and educators on the site and content. Any things that are working well, not working well, missing? What more should we cover?

If you know a kid who is passionate about pets, comfortable on camera, and would like to be an ambassador, let me know. Or if you have content like books or guest posts aimed at kids you would like to include, contact me to discuss through Talent Hounds or the Kids’ Pet Club new site.