Some Health Benefits Gained From Having a Pet
As well as a pet providing a great deal of companionship, research indicates that owning a pet may actually provide another important benefit as well, improved health!
One study found found that among heart attack patients, 94% of those who owned pets were living alive a year later, compared with 72% of those who didn't have not own a pet.
Do Pets Also Help
Minor Health Problems?
Less Frequent Visits to the Doctor Another study done that looked at the number of medical visits made by almost 1,000 Medicare recipients during a one-year period found that the seniors who owned pets had less frequent medical visits than those who did not own pets. The pet owners in this study spent an average of 1.4 hours of their day outdoors with their dogs. Even cat owners were more active than people without an pet for a companion. Pets were also found to motivate their owners to be more active physically, therefore strengthening their heart muscles, improving blood circulation, and slowing the loss of bone tissue that normally goes along with aging. So the ability of a dog to motivate it's owner to increase their outdoor activity is one of the most important gifts that dogs contribute to human health.
Pets Contribute A Wealth of Affection A recent study revealed that of out of 1,206 pet owners studied in the United States and Canada, more than 80% of the subjects female, 48% of them said they depend more on their pets than on their spouses or children for the affection they need. Pets provide their owners boundless affection as well as unconditional love. As a result, many people treat their pets as members of their family. |
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In this survey more than half of the dog and cat owners studied said they have named their pets a human name such as Sadie, Maggie or Sam. More than 60% send news about their pets in holiday cards, and 36% send a picture of them. As a matter of fact, one quarter of the subjects said they have actually brought their pets to a professional photographer to be part of family photos or to be photographed with their local "Santa Claus".
Quite a few of those studied also bring their pets in along while doing their everyday activities, or pamper their pets with extra special care. Almost half, for instance, bring their pets along in their car while doing errands, and more than half bring their pets along for vacation. One quarter of them blow-dry their pets after a bath, almost half have a special bed for their pets, and 75% purchase the very best pet food for their pets. Almost 60% of the pet owners said that their pets are so dear to them that when the pets die, they will bury them on their property. Even though almost 80% of those studied are dog owners and 61% cat owners, these are not only kind of pets the subjects own: 11% have pet birds, 6% own pets such as a gerbils or hamsters, and 5% own reptiles. Another 13% have other types of pets ranging from fish to horses.
Dogs Cheer Children Who Are Ill
For a sick child, thinking about something other than than their illness is very hard, especially when they are confined in the hospital. At Boston Children’s Hospital, the children get a very special treat that is provided by a wonderful group of dogs.
Monthly, as many as 100 kids, ranging from toddlers to teenagers gather in the hospital’s performance area. Some are transported right in their hospital beds, others in wheelchairs, some with their IVs in tow. They arrive to see the ten to fifteen dogs that are a part of the wonderful "Helping Hounds", a non-profit organization that was founded by Alan Bloom and his wife, Jessica, A Social Worker.
Each and every dog, including Bloom’s own two Standard poodles, is brought in and introduced by it's volunteer owner, who tells the children all about what breed of dog it is and maybe a funny story about it.
When the show is over, the children get to visit with the dogs and volunteers and many have a Polaroid picture taken with one of the dogs so they have a keepsake.
The benefits the children get from the show are evident. A lot of the children have been quite ill for a long time. Some have major orthopedic problems or disfiguring handicaps. Other kids are receiving chemotherapy treatments for Cancer or recovering from heart surgery. These visits give them an chance to get outside of themselves and their illness for a time.
Dogs induce a relaxation response and give unconditional love. There is no threat, there are no expectations. The dog doesn’t care how handicapped a child is. Sometimes the dogs have quite a dramatic positive effect. There is one story of a six-year-old who had undergone major back and leg surgery at the hospital. She was so traumatized by the surgery that she refused to walk, and was about to be referred to a psychiatrist to see if he/she could help. Her Mom brought her to the performance center in her wheelchair, a few moments before the Helping Hounds show began. When the child saw the dogs, she actually stood and walked, this was the start of her recovery.
These visits also help the children's parents by enabling them to experience a recreational activity with their children, something that not usually possible in a hospital surrounding.
Service Dogs
Service Dogs cannot go without mention in this section. A Service Dog is a type of dog specifically trained to assist a disabled person. There are Guide Dogs for blind individuals, Hearing Dogs that assist deaf and hard of hearing individuals and Service Dogs that assist physically-challenged people by retrieving objects, pulling wheelchairs, opening and closing doors, turning light switches off and on, barking for alert, finding another person, assisting ambulatory persons to walk by providing balance and counterbalance and many other individual tasks as needed by a physically-challenged individual
The breeds most commonly used are Golden retrievers, Labrador retrievers, German Shepherds, Shelties, and Pembroke Welsh Corgis.
The Role of Pets in Social and Therapeutic Effects
The use of
well-chosen animals as conduits in a wide variety of therapy techniques has become more
and more widespread of late. One good example is the use of horseback riding as part
of some therapeutic programs.
Therapeutic horseback riding is kind of an overall term that describes a number of ways in
which horses may be used to assist in the physical and psychological well-being of
individuals. It covers riding skills and gymnastic exercises for emotional, cognitive, and
sensory-motor therapeutic techniques. For patients that have movement disorders, specially
trained physical and occupational therapists use therapeutic riding in which the horse
influences the patient rather than the patient controlling the horse. The main goal is to
improve the patient's posture, balance, mobility, and function.
Conclusion
When there is an animal present in the home, people tend to focus on them, especially in stressful times. This focus of their attention outside themselves can cause a decrease in stress level very similar to that experienced during more conventional forms of stress reduction, such as meditation or progressive relaxation. Watching fish swim in a tank has been used as a kind of hypnosis for reducing anxiety and pain during dental surgery. This observation of the natural world can also be useful in lowering a person's blood pressure.
Taking care of a pet promotes health by giving people a responsibility, providing them with time-orientation, and encouraging them toward a more varied life-style. Taking on the responsibility of a pet can be especially important to patients whose activities are may be limited due to chronic illnesses, handicaps, or social isolation.
In early childhood pets can provide a connection to the world of nature and are often instrumental in teaching a child respect for other living things. For older children, the responsibility of a having pet may be help them to develop their self-esteem, confidence, and independence.
Pets serve many functions at many points in people's lives from young childhood through mature adulthood. Once that contact with an pet is established, it is easier to establish relationships with other people.
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