The results were compared with a control group of children who didn’t spend time with dogs and a group who practiced meditation instead.
Bonat told Healthline that if the child has never been around a dog before, it is important to give the child some exposure to a dog prior to bringing a dog into the family.
Dogs can be wonderful stress relievers, but they need care and can be an incredibly significant financial commitment, notes Dorn.
Parental involvement and supervision (particularly in children under age 10) are necessary to make dog ownership positive for the family, says Bonat.
If your family already has a dog (or several), and your child or children are still experiencing high levels of stress, you may be wondering what you can do next.
The old “I’m not getting a pet because I’ll end up taking care of it” refrain misses the point. Giving a child age-appropriate tasks — from teaching a toddler to “pet the hamster gently” to asking a 5-year-old fill a food bowl to letting your young teen walk the dog alone — and offering them positive feedback when they accomplish them, gives kids a feeling of competence that can boost their self-esteem, research says. It’s almost never too soon to start: When the UPS man comes to my daughter’s house, her 2-year-old daughter already knows to tell their Bernese Mountain Dog, “Riley, go to your rug!”
While hopefully not everyone’s experience will be that dramatic, pets can be invaluable at teaching families, especially children, “emotional intelligence,” or EQ—a measure of empathy and the ability to understand and connect with others. More than intelligence, EQ is the best indicator of a child’s likely success in school. In fact, kindergarten teachers have reported that EQ is more important than the ability to read or hold a pencil. And unlike IQ, which is fixed at birth, EQ can grow and be nurtured, and what better way than with a loving pet who is a gift to the whole family? Here are five ways in which pets can help children develop their EQ.
At the National Childhood Grief Institute, we conducted a study with the Delta Society using certified Golden Retrievers in children’s support groups. A therapy dog would sit in front of an emotional child and put its head in the child’s lap. As the child started petting the dog, you could visibly see the child relax. We studied the blood pressure readings of the dogs and the kids, and the experience lowered the blood pressure of both.
One of the greatest lessons of my life came from a dog. It was Christmas Eve, 1989, and our house was burning to the ground. As we stood in the snow in our jammies, our Newfoundland, Alfie, kept running back toward the house to make sure all the children were out and that everyone was safe. (We were, thankfully.) It was the most selfless, unconditional act of love I’d ever witnessed.
As a counselor with public schools in Rye, N.H., Randall W. Bachman noted in an academic paper that children, when asked whom they would turn to with a problem, regularly named their pets. That doesn’t surprise me at all. It can be hard for children to talk with adults about powerful emotions. When I was with the National Childhood Grief Institute, I worked with children all around the world who were dealing with the traumas of war and natural disaster. In New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and in Sandy Hook after the school-shooting tragedy, children had a hard time expressing sadness and anger. What helped them was being able to tell their story over and over, until they felt they were regaining control over a situation that felt out of their control. That’s where a loving animal is invaluable.Loading…TOP STORIESVisual StoriesTired of reading? Stories that explain the news through charts, maps, photography and videos.
A sense of mastery is also very valuable to kids with diagnoses such as reactive attachment disorder, bipolar, cognitive learning disorders, and autism, says Michael Kaufmann, director of farm and wildlife at Green Chimneys, a therapeutic day school and residential treatment center in Putnam County, New York. “It feels awesome when a horse starts listening to you,” he notes. “A 1,500 pound horse is actually going where you want it to go, you can tell your parents, and most of your friends haven’t done it.”
While there is little research to back up the therapeutic claims of these programs, the use of animals in therapy goes back to the beginning of psychoanalysis. Sigmund Freud allowed his two chows, Lun and Jo-Fi, to sit in on his sessions, admitting with “complete sincerity that he often depended on Jo-Fi provide him with an assessment of his patient’s current mental status.”
Eight-year-old Rose does hippotherapy at GallopNYC . When the Brooklyn girl was diagnosed at 3 with mild sensory processing issues and low muscle tone in her hands and core, it only took one trip to the stable for her mother, Catherine, to sign her up to augment her OT and PT. Five years later, Catherine reports, “Rose is very much in control while riding a horse. Usually a very floppy girl, she sits straight as a door while riding. This gives her great confidence and satisfaction.” Even better: the joy Catherine sees in her daughter’s face when she interacts with the horses: “She cares deeply about the animals, more so even than other humans.”
Another fine motor task that also increases core (trunk) strength involves sit-ups, with the child reaching back over their head to pick up and hand Tippy a treat each time they roll down to the floor. Tippy also loves to hide in the ball pit, encouraging kids to dig down to find her. They don’t have to know they’re getting tactile input and increased body awareness; it just adds to the fun.
When the Coral Gables, Florida, mom told Caroline’s occupational therapist, Willow Rossi, about the episode, Rossi had a thought: When she worked with Caroline she included her black Lab Tippy, who is what’s called a facility dog. Tippy seemed to help Caroline stay calm, so why not have her accompany the girl to her next appointment? Because Tippy is also a certified service dog, she has full access to public places including stores, buses and planes.