The thought of an animal’s prescence being used to help well-being and health has been around for thousands of years. In the 18th century, companion animals were used to aide in the treatment multiple mental and physical needs. (Solomon, 2010)
The hypothesis is that those participants who own dogs will report lower overall stress levels than those who do not own dogs as pets. It is the goal of the researcher to compare overall reports of stress between participants who own dogs as compared to those who do not own a dog as a pet. It is thought that those who own dogs will report lower overall stress levels compared to those who do not own dogs as pets.
Literature Review
In the article titled “An Examination of the Relations between Social Support, Anthropomorphism and Stress among Dog Owners”, the existence of the multitude of benefits of owning a pet is explored. The relationship between owners perceived social support from their dog, the aspect of anthropomorphism, and stress levels. Anthropomorphism is defined as “the attribution of human states (thoughts, feelings, motivations, and beliefs) to non-human animals”. This was also considered to include thinking of the pet as a family member or close friend, assigning a family role such as baby or grandpa, dressing it in clothes, and the pet owner assigning themselves a role as mother or father of the pet. (Duvall & Pychyl, 2008)
Besides the emotional connections, some researchers have found a link between “pet ownership and various health measures, including heart rate, blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, and minor health problems for the general population”(Anderson, Reid, & Jennings, 1992). Research has also indicated that the elderly population who own pets and have ...
... middle of paper ...
...ces-6.asp
O'Haire, M. (2010). Companion animals and human health: Benefits, challenges, and the road ahead. Jornal of Veterinary Behavior, 5, 226-234.
Solomon, O. (2010). What a dog can do: Children with autism and therapy dogs in social interaction. Journal of the Society for Psychological Anthropology, 38(1), 143-166. doi: 10.1111/j.1548-1352.2010.01085.x
Wild, D. L. (2013). The impact of canine assistance for children with autism and the family unit. Dissertation Abstracts International Section A: Humanities and Social Sciences, 73(8-A).
Wood, L. J., Giles-Corti, B., Bulsara, M. K., & Bosch, D. A. (2007). More Than a Furry Companion: Ripple Effect of Companion Animals on Neighborhood Interactions and Sense of Community. Society and Animals, 15, 43-56. Retrieved March 2, 2014, from http://www.animalsandsociety.org/assets/library/638_morethanafurrycompanion.pdf
A wolf pack is, at its foundation, simply a family, with the parents (alphas) guiding the activities of the group. Hence, it is easy to believe that dogs are able to bond with human families, especially when the alphas are already parents. The parents view the dog as one of their children, one who remains dependent and will never leave or criticize them (Rogers 1), and in the same manner, the dog views the human parents as if they were his actual parents and as a result, loves and trusts them with his life gladly following them, not once questioning their decisions or actions. For these reasons, humans have found release in the company of dogs because dogs do not judge. By way of example, Sigmund Freud was notably a bad singer and as a result, never sang in public, however he often hummed an aria while petting his dog (Rogers 2). In the presence of dogs, our need to self-censor our words and actions vanishes (Rogers 2). Ultimately, dogs and human beings are able to form such strong emotional bonds through love and
The modern novel, ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime,’ by Mark Haddon vigorously explores Christopher Boone’s problematic issue of independence due to his disability of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Established within the novel, it’s apparent that being independent is an arduous concept in which affects Christopher’s adaptation to society and his future. His struggle of becoming independent primarily involves gaining self-confidence and moving beyond the rigidly defined comfort zone it restricts him from completing basic tasks. This is depicted through the use of characterization, themes, representation of his disability as well as the writing style in which reveals a sufficient amount about Christopher’s personality, attributes and his difficultly being independent.
The goal of the study was to determine personality characteristics of pets and to use the circumplex model to assess human-animal bonds. The results confirm that self-identified dog and cat people seek complementarity with their pets. However, results were insignificant between the interaction with ideal pet and the level of complementarity. It appears that the greatest predictor for human-animal attachment is the correspondence between the needs of the owner and the interpersonal characteristics of their pet (Woodward & Bauer, 2007).
http://www.everydayhealth.com/alzheimers/how-animal-therapy-helps-dementia-patient s.asp Zimolag, Ulrike and Terry Krupa. “Pet Ownership as a Meaningful Community Occupation for People with Serious Mental Illness.” American Journal of Occupational Therapy 63.2
As of 2012, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that one in 50 children between the ages of six and seventeen has autism spectrum disorder, with males being four times more likely than females to have these conditions (Slaughter 1). Autism is a developmental disorder that affects the brains normal development of social and communication skills. Service dogs are normally used to aid the blind, deaf or hard of hearing, and other types of disabilities. Service dogs have recently been used to help children with autism. The service dog industry has had a growing impact on the autism community, the benefits and disadvantages affect each child differently.
"Animal-Assisted Therapy." Animal Assisted Therapy, Exploring the Therapeutic Link between Animals and Humans. American Humane Association, 2013. Web. 13 Mar. 2014. .
Almost all the families that own dogs treat them like a part of the family. In the story How the Dog Became Part of the Family, it stated "According to a 2015 survey by the Harris Poll, ninety six percent of owners consider their dogs to be a part of the family." Since the dogs get special treatment from their owners they will do things for them, like encroachment foxes, clean out rats from somewhere, hunt ducks, and also even pull sleds on snowy days. Dogs can be malign gard dogs for people that treat them like kinfolks. The dogs and humans can have a very special bond. "When a dog and a human gaze in each others eye a chemical is released that causes the dog and human to feel adjacent." For example, in the story How the Dog Became Part of the Family, it states that, "The Harris Poll found that 38 percent of U.S. dog owners cook special meals for their dogs," Another thing is walking a dog a lot can improve people's health and can cause less accentuation. Less accentuation causes a better day and it is helpful to kids with autism. When dos get walked it makes you and the dog feel
Research has been done in the area of human-animal companionship and security, and stress management. Due to the relative newness of this field and the difficulties in studying it, most research has been concentrated on the elderly, specifically, institutionalized elderly. Pets have been introduced into these settings in order to minimize the negative consequences of institutionalization. Most research has been conducted on the extreme ends of the continuum, either very brief visitation or therapy of resident pets studies (Wrinkler 216).
In the field of therapy, there are numerous of therapy available out there for different type of individuals and situations as well. There is one type of therapy that usually contains people and animal, it is animal-assisted therapy is a therapeutic approach that brings animals and individuals with physical and/or emotional needs together to perform the therapy. Animal-assisted therapy tend to be focused on individuals either children or elderly for them to be able to connect with the animal thus feeling comfortable talking with the therapist. Pet therapy works for all ages, whether sick or not (Lanchnit, 2011). Although, this paper, most of the focus is on animal-assisted therapy towards children using dogs.
While trust is a somewhat common theme in modern novels, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime manages to portray how it affects people in their day to day lifestyle. The book tells the story of Christopher Boone a young boy with autism and his murder mystery novel about the murder of his neighbor's dog. Why this novel is significant is because Mark Haddon tells the story that many young people with autism, like Christopher, live everyday and who’s view on life and the idea of trust and understanding of the world is drastically different than any teenager.
Restate Thesis Statement: Dogs don’t only give owners happiness; they also affect their owners positively.
Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT), which can be provided in a group or individual settings, is designed to promote improvement in a human’s physical, social, emotional, or cognitive function. An article by Chitic, Rusu, and Szamoskozi (2012) provides an analysis in order to determine the value of AAT. Both dogs and horses that were trained for AAT were examined and studied to determine their effectiveness in treating patients with psychological disorders. The results showed that both therapy dogs and horses were valuable aids to the therapeutic process. The analysis suggests that proper training and repeated sessions were necessary for proper treatment of patients. In addition, certain disorders may benefit more than others in regards to AAT. For example, a child with ADHD may not benefit from a therapy dog’s presence, for it may worsen the hyperactive symptoms. On the other hand, a patient with depression may benefit greatly from the same animal (Chitic, Rusu, Szamoskozi, 2012). These findings are a perfect starting point to answering the research question: Do patients who engage in AAT display a betterment in their overall emotional well-being, as well as show improvement in their interpersonal interactions...
“A dog is a man’s best friend” goes much deeper than the phrase might initially imply. Recently many medical journals have begun to identify with the many and varied benefits of pet ownership. Men have always relied upon animals for work, transportation, and survival. As times have changed, man has begun to appreciate a different bond with animals. Gone are the days of animals running free outside around the homestead, for now animals are allowed inside and are considered by many to be an integral part of our daily lives! Medical studies have found that animals have a much greater intelligence level than originally thought. Through proper training and experience, animals are not only household pets, but also are becoming an accepted form of medical treatment.
"Pet Overpopulation : The Humane Society of the United States." RSS. The Humane Society of
Many people in the world today suffer with problems such as anxiety and depression. As a way to treat these problems, those people should use animal-assisted therapy. Animal-assisted therapy (also known as pet therapy) is used in many hospitals and is growing more every day.