I grew up with almost every kind of pet a kid could have. Dogs, cats, hamsters, gerbils, parrots, lizards, rabbits—we even had a raccoon for a while. I remember a time when we had 3 dogs, 15 cats, three parrots, two hamsters, and a guinea pig. Cleaning up after all those animals was a nightmare. I love animals, but now that I’m a parent myself, I have a “one pet at a time” rule. So now we have a rabbit. I figure we’re good for 7–8 years, then maybe we’ll think about a puppy.
Anyway, we learned about responsiblity a little bit, but when a kid has a pet it usually means Mom and Dad have something else to take care of around the house. I remember being absolutely heartbroken when my first hamster died, and when I lost my first dog I cried off and on for days. I certainly learned to appreciate animals, care for them, clean up after them, and deal with the grief of losing them.
An added bonus to having pets as a kid is that there’s evidence that early exposure to animals decreases the child’s possibility of developing allergies or asthma later in life. However, if those conditions don’t run in your family you probably don’t have to worry about it.