By DARLENE PRINCE

prince@crescent-news.com

What could bring more happiness to a child than finding a kitten or a puppy under the tree on Christmas morning?

While children and pets can be a great combination, parents who are considering getting a pet for a child at Christmas should do a little planning ahead of time.

At Town and Country Pets in Defiance, manager Josh O'Hara said more people are coming in and looking at pets to buy for Christmas.

"They are looking for smaller, non-shedding breeds," he said, "such as Yorkshire terriers, Shih Tzus and smaller poodles. The economy is playing its part in their selection. I think they may be looking ahead and thinking about the cost of feeding a larger breed dog and the cost of the food."

As for cats, O'Hara said the store works with the Williams County Humane Society to get their cats adopted.

"The humane society's cats are the only felines that we have," he said. "We try to uphold their policies on spaying and neutering pets and on meeting their adoption requirements."

"We do talk to the parents when they buy a pet and try to warn them that their child will be excited at first about their pet, but that excitement will wear off and it will be their responsibility to take care of it," he said.

"We want to educate people about their pets and that it is a lifetime responsibility to have a pet."

Another avenue parents might consider for a pet is their local humane shelter.

Lisa Fortner, of the Defiance County Humane Society, said, "We advise parents to bring their child or children in and spend time playing with the pets. They don't have to tell their child they are getting the pet, just that they are going to play with them.

"That way, they can see if there is a bond between their child and a certain pet," she explained.

"Parents should make sure they have everything ready for the pet before they bring it home," she said. "And they should make sure they are ready for the responsibility of owning a pet. It is a lifetime commitment for the pet."

"At the shelter right now, we have two, four-month-old, large-breed puppies to adopt and a few kittens," she said. "We have Lab mixes, collie mixes, a beagle and beagle pup.

"We have all kinds of colors of cats -- black, black and white, calico, gray and tigers," she said.

She said persons who are interested in adopting a pet can stop in at the shelter and fill out an adoption application. Shelter hours are seven days a week from 12-5 p.m.

For those persons who want to give a smaller pet that requires less care than a dog or cat, they can choose from hamsters, gerbils, birds, reptiles or fish, for example.

At Tammy's Pet Place in Ottawa, owner Tammy Beemer talked about her selection of pets.

"We have birds -- parakeets, a canary, finches and cockatiels," she said. "We have a beautiful Bourke's parakeet that has a blue breast with a little pink in it and a gray head with a little yellow mixed in it.

"We have hamsters, gerbils, guinea pigs and Siberian dwarf and Chinese dwarf hamsters. They are about the size of a mouse. We also have a variety of fish."

While the pet store does not carry dogs or cats, Beemer said she works with the Putnam Pet Pals dog rescue group to help dogs left at the Putnam County dog pound get adopted.

"They just had a big rescue of Lab mixes that were taken by a Lab rescue group," she said. "They have three dogs there right now -- a Jack Russell mix, a small shepherd mix and a dog that looks like a blue heeler but is red."

Beemer said that, based on her former work at another pet shop, not as many people buy pets for Christmas as have in the past.

"Maybe they have had the experience of getting a pet for a child at Christmas and after the excitement has worn off, the hard work of caring for a pet is still there," she said.

Beemer added that gift certificates are always a good idea.