My parents need a dog. Their little pup passed away a few years back and it was very painful for them. Losing a pet is losing a family member. It can feel devastating, but so much better to have loved and lost than never to have experienced the unconditional love of a dog at all. My parents say that they do not feel ready, but I can’t help but think of all of the benefits of having a dog in their lives. I have a house full of rescue dogs, and I am very happy. Most people think I’m crazy, having 6 to 9 dogs at a time. It is a lot of work taking care of them. So, why am I so happy? What is it that makes this so great and how can it be explained?
I was recently contacted by The Recovery Village, an organization dedicated to helping those struggling with substance abuse into recovery. Because, according to the Mental Health Foundation, the companionship of a pet can reduce anxiety, depression, and stress associated with recovery from substance abuse, The Recovery Village encourages their program alumni to adopt. They have added pet adoption resources on their website and have asked me to add their link to IffyDog. I am all about helping homeless pets, but their request spurred me to finish my research about of the mental health benefits of pet ownership. I’m not in this just for the animals; I love that doing this is making people’s lives better, in the same way that the canine guests of The Cecchine Hotel for Dogs have made my life better. When one of our dogs gets adopted, they get their happily ever after AND we make an entire family happier. Win-win.
Dog is man’s best friend. According to a 2015 Harris poll, 95% of pet owners consider their animal a member of the family. I wish that I could say ALL pet owners treat their animals as family members. If that were so, we wouldn’t have to rescue so many abandoned and mistreated animals from shelters. People clearly need help being better people. In many cases, having a dog can help. The other 5%, well, some people don’t deserve a dog or cat, and I hope that Karma finds them. Until then, we rescue homeless and abandoned pets.
So, lets talk about how dogs can help reasonable and responsible owners make healthy lifestyle changes. A dog can add joy and unconditional love to your life, AND the mental and physical health benefits of pet ownership can play an important role in easing symptoms of stress, loneliness, depression, and anxiety. More research is needed before scientists know exactly why it works and how, but there is mounting evidence that animals help improve our mental health.
It used to be that animals were a no-no in a hospital setting because fear of spreading infection. These days animal therapy is being used alongside conventional medicine. Alan Beck, director of the Center for the Human-Animal Bond at Purdue University, points out that all of the major children’s hospitals now have some kind of animal program in place. We know that animals help calm stress, fear and anxiety in everyone from young children to the elderly.
Who didn’t smile a little when they saw this:
Maybe not all of the science is in yet, but we know that dogs can help. They just make things better.
There’s a reason therapy dogs are so effective: just spending a few minutes with a dog can increase levels of serotonin and dopamine and lower your anxiety and blood pressure.
Science Says Your Pet Is Good for Your Mental Health
My husband will tell me that there is not enough peer reviewed research yet, but the strength of the human-animal bond has long been studied. 30 years ago psychologist Alan Beck of Purdue University, and psychiatrist, Aaron Katcher of the University of Pennsylvania, first measured what happens physically when a person pets a friendly, familiar dog. They found that the person’s blood pressure lowered, their heart rate slowed, their breathing became more regular, and their muscle tension relaxed — all signs of reduced stress. We feel a secure attachment to our beloved family pets, and spending time with them has some stress reducing physiological effects, whether it is your breathing rate or blood pressure or oxygen consumption or general anxiety level. A study in the Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine confirmed these effects, and also showed changes in blood chemistry demonstrating reduced amounts of stress related hormones. These positive psychological effects seem to work much faster than many drugs prescribed for stress, occurring after only 5 to 24 minutes of interacting with the friendly dog. Pharmaceuticals like Prozac can take weeks to show any effect.
Let’s start with the mental health benefits of pets for children.
Number one for me: children learn compassion and empathy through pet ownership. While children are natural narcissists, (I have two) having a pet that they care for is huge. Taking part in routine pet care such as feeding, walking, brushing and bathing can help children learn to plan and to take responsibility. Training a dog to do a new trick can teach children perseverance. Being entrusted with these important roles in animal care can build self-confidence, and having the unconditional love and constant companionship of a dog can make children feel important and help to develop a positive self-image. Having a dog in the home can also provide a sense of security and can ease separation anxiety in children when parents are not in the home.
Pets can help children with learning disabilities learn how to regulate stress and calm themselves. All children, and especially those with ADHD, routinely have parents and teachers reprimanding them and trying to calm them down. Children get as frustrated with adults as adults are with them. A pet is a great listener. Pets are never critical and don’t tell children what to do. Studies indicate that dogs can help to calm hyperactive and aggressive children (both dog and child must be trained to behave appropriately with one another). Both pets and children need to play, and walking, running and playing with a pet is a great way for children to burn off excess energy and relieve stress, making them calmer and more able to relax and concentrate when needed.
Dogs and cats can fulfill the basic human need to touch. Just touching a friendly animal can rapidly calm stress and anxiety. Sensory issues are common among children with autism; dogs have both been used to lessen sensory sensitivity and help children get used to the way something feels, smells, or sounds. Stroking a dog lowers blood pressure and can help you quickly feel calmer and less stressed. Children with autism can find it calming to work with animals and in some cases interact with pets more easily than with people. That may be because both autistic children and dogs heavily rely on nonverbal cues to communicate. Dogs have evolved to become acutely attuned to humans and our behaviors and emotions. They may not understand all of the words that we use, but they can interpret our tone of voice and our body language. Learning to connect with a dog is incredibly rewarding and may increase the ability of children to to build healthy relationships with other people.
Caring for a dog can help adults make healthy lifestyle changes
Keeping you fit and active
Research has repeatedly found that daily dog walks are linked to weight loss. Yes, getting a dog may help you lose weight! Dogs encourage exercise and taking your dog for a walk, hike, or run are fun ways to fit exercise into your daily routine. Studies indicate that dog owners are far more likely to exercise every day. Health experts recommend that average adults fit in 2 hours and 30 minutes worth of moderate exercise each week. Dog owners are way more likely to hit that goal.
Have you ever tried to have an exercise buddy, to keep you on track? Ever been let down? A dog provides support like a human exercise buddy, only with greater consistency and without any negative influence. Your dog will always show up to take a walk or play fetch.
The key is that you have to show up – you can’t let your dog (or yourself) down. Consider it a responsibility to the dog, rather than exercise for yourself. As a bonus, increased exercise will eradicate many behavior problems in dogs, and keep them fit and healthy at the same time. Knowing that your dog may have an accident in the house, or become destructive without his or her walk, can be big motivating factors. One study indicated that walking an overweight dog helped both animals and owners lose weight and found that people who got a dog walked 30 minutes more each week than they did before. A study in the journal Gerontologist found that older adults who walked dogs experienced lower body mass index (BMI), fewer doctor visits, and more frequent exercise.
Improving Cardiovascular health
The American Heart Association links owning a dog with both reduced risk for heart disease and greater longevity. Studies indicate that having a dog is linked to lower blood pressure, cholesterol, and triglyceride levels, all of which contribute to better overall cardiovascular health and fewer heart attacks. Dog owners who do have heart attacks have better survival rates than non pet owners. Why? People with dogs have lower blood pressure in stressful situations than those without pets. It may be the extra exercise that playing and walking require, but it is believed that the affectionate bond and social support provided by dogs reduces overall stress, and stress is a major contributor to cardiovascular problems. One study found that when people with borderline hypertension adopted a shelter dog, their blood pressure declined significantly within the following five months.
Improving your social life
People who have more social relationships and friendships tend to be mentally healthier, but maintaining an active social network can become more difficult as we age. Retirements, illnesses, deaths of friends and family, and relocations are all obstacles to maintaining a healthy and active social life. Dog owners frequently stop and talk to each other on walks, or while visiting a dog park. Our dogs give us something in common and so are a great way for us to spark up conversations and meet new people. People really open up and want to talk about their best friend. If you are looking to meet people, you can’t go wrong with a dog park or a training class. You just might get a date out of it.
Staving off depression and providing companionship
Although depression is caused by many factors, one of the most common is loneliness. Dogs can certainly help with that. Most dog and cat owners talk to their pets. Companionship like this can help prevent cognitive decline and illness and can even add years to your life, whereas isolation and loneliness can trigger symptoms of depression. Caring for a pet can make you feel needed and wanted, and take the focus away from your own problems. Therapy dogs have been shown to be effective in easing depression for a variety of people. Dog owners in some demographics (including isolated elderly women and HIV-positive men) are less likely to suffer from depression than those without pets. Some research indicates that non dog owners in these demographic groups have 3 times higher odds of depression diagnosis than dog owners. We do not have sufficient research in other demographic areas, however the problem is widespread. The National Institute of Health estimates indicate that 50% of the population experience at least one mental disorder in their lifetime and that at least 25% have suffered a mental disorder in the past year. And depression is considered by some to be more socially and physically disabling than many chronic physical illnesses. We know that a pet can be an excellent companion, providing a sense of security, making owners feel valuable and needed, and just being there to share the routines of the day with. Dogs are an excellent motivator for people to get more active, well known for encouraging their owners to get out and play fetch, or take walks. We know that healthy exercise can substantially boost our mood and ease depression. Bonus: Pet owners over age 65 make about 30 percent fewer visits to their doctors than non pet owners.
Reducing stress and anxiety
The companionship that a pet offers is a great way to reduce anxiety and stress. This is why The Recovery Village encourages their program alumni to adopt. People performing stressful tasks do better when there’s a dog around, and studies indicate that dogs ease tension at the office. Prisoners have shown positive long-term changes in their behavior after interacting with dogs. Playing with your pet can elevate levels of serotonin and dopamine, which calm and relax. Alzheimer’s patients may exhibit a variety of behavioral problems related to an inability to deal with stress. Research at the University of California at Davis concluded that with an animal in the home, people with Alzheimer’s have fewer anxious outbursts. A dogs companionship seems to mitigate emotional flare-ups and decrease aggressive behavior.
Touch and movement are two healthy ways to reduce stress. Petting a dog can lower blood pressure and can help you quickly feel calmer. Dogs live in the moment, they can help you become more mindful and present. A study in the journal Science explored how oxytocin, which helps us feel good, is boosted in both dog and human when a dog owner stares into eyes of their dog.
Adding meaning and purpose
As we age, the things that previously filled our days and gave our lives purpose will change. We will retire and our children will move away. Caring for a pet gives older adults a sense of purpose and reward, and gives structure and routine to the day. Our pets expect a consistent feeding and exercise routine. Whether you are happy or sad, depressed, anxious, or stressed, when you wake up or come home, your pet is happy to see you and wants to be fed, walked and cuddled. There is nothing like waking up to wet kisses and coming home to a wagging tail. Our pets provide unconditional love and they give us a sense of purpose, a way to not just focus on our own needs. They give us a reason to get up in the morning. They need us.
Choosing to rescue and adopt a dog can provide a great sense of fulfillment, knowing that you are provided a home to a pet that may otherwise have been euthanized.
In so many ways, our bond to our pets can help us to live mentally healthier lives.
