According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, children raised with pets show many benefits. Developing positive feelings about pets can contribute to a child's self-esteem and self-confidence. Positive relationships with pets can aid in the development of trusting relationships with others. A good relationship with a pet can also help in developing non-verbal communication, compassion, and empathy. Pets can serve different purposes for children:
• They can be safe recipients of secrets and private thoughts--children often talk to their pets, like they do their stuffed animals.
• They provide lessons about life; reproduction, birth, illnesses, accidents, death, and bereavement.
• They can help develop responsible behavior in the children who care for them.
• They provide a connection to nature.
• They can teach respect for other living things.
Very young children (under 3 – 4) need to be monitored around any pet at all time. They do not have the maturity to control their aggressive impulses and they may also be curious. My daughter, not fully understanding the implications, decided to put our dog’s penis thinking it was an extra paw. Luckily Snickers (our Golden Retriever at the time) adored any attention, even that!
Young children (under 10) can and should have some responsibility for their pet, but they are not capable of fully taking care of the pet. Once they are older however, a parent needs to expect their child to be responsible.
Children are not the only ones who benefit by having a furry friend. When my husband was hospitalized for a week last year it took the visit of two therapy dogs to bring him out of his stress and frustration at being incapacitated.
Petting a dog lower blood pressure and reduces stress-induced symptoms. A study conducted at UCLA found that dog owners required much less medical care for stress-induced aches and pains than non-dog owners.
A study conducted at City Hospital in New York found that heart patients who owned pets were significantly more likely to be alive a year after they were discharged from the hospital than those who didn’t own pets. The presence of a pet was found to give higher boost to the survival rate than having a spouse or friends.
(http://www.holisticonline.com/stress/stress_pet-therapy.htm)
I can’t leave this blog without showing you a photo of the Glamma Grandma's “grandchildren.” Yes, when the 3 kids moved out, more dogs moved in. Actually the golden retriever is officially my daughter’s baby. The black lab was given to my son as a college graduation gift. (Yes, I know … we tried to talk him out of it!). She lasted with him about 6 months, came home with him for Christmas and was immediately adopted by us as oppose to living in a house with 9 guys. The final “grandchild,” the Newfoundland was first a foster child with us while my sister was in Afghanistan. He lived with us for over a year and neither we, nor the other dogs, were able to give him back (which ended up being just fine with my sister).
So … meet my furry grandchildren … Chadwick (golden retriever), Kali (black lab) and Zac (Newfoundland)
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