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
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.
Several studies have examined the effects of dog ownership on people's physical and mental health. Dog ownership produces considerable health benefit and provides social support that encourages dog owners to walk (Cutt et al.2007 ). Pet owners appear to have lower systolic blood pressure and blood cholesterol levels(Anderson et al 1992). Pet owners with serious mental illness living in the community demonstrate higher social community integration(Zimalog and Krupa 2009). Socially excluded participants who performed in the presence of a dog report higher mental well-being compared with socially excluded participants who did not work in the presence of a dog (Nilüfer et al 2012). Although there is evidence suggesting that dog ownership can improve people's physical and mental health, there is little research documenting the psychological and behavioral effects of dog-assisted therapy, especially on elderly patients with dementia, who have dif...
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.
Most people are familiar with service dogs and have seen them in action. Animal-assisted therapy is similar service animals in that an animal-human healing partnership is being created. However, the difference is that therapy pets are typically used to treat a mental disability whereas people with physical disabilities use service dogs to help them in many ways. Therapy animals are used in a wide variety of places, such as, hospitals, prisons, nursing homes, therapy sessions, mental healthcare facilities, and even in people’s homes. These amazing animals are used on a wide variety of different disorders, but they are utilized mostly by people suffering from depression, anxiety, and PTSD. For people with these mental health disorders, everything in live can be difficult and challenging, however with the help of animal-assisted therapy, their mood, motivation, and life can dramatically improve. Anyone who hears about these brave, loving animals soon falls in love with them. From a medical standpoint, there have been many successful studies and the support for animal-assisted therapy still continues to grow in doctors and therapists across the nation.
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
Restate Thesis Statement: Dogs don’t only give owners happiness; they also affect their owners positively.
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.
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).
Animal-assisted therapy is often confused with service dog; it is two completely different type of usage of animals, which usually are dogs. It is commonly misunderstood because animal-assisted therapy and service dog are working animals with individuals with disability although according to (Hart-Cohen, 2009) service dogs is when an individual with disability is in need of help in order to function in daily life such as answering the door, crossing the street and the list goes on. While animal-assisted therapy animals are trained to offer comfort companionship, and affection to those in need in different situations such as courtrooms, nursing homes, schools, hospitals, and other places (Hart-Cohen, 2009). The point of animal-assisted therapy is to be available in specific situations to offer comfort to individuals. In order to become an assisted animal, the animal must undergo training, to receive a certified to prove that the animal is qualified to be able to control his or her behavior and is able to work with an...
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...
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).
"Pet Overpopulation : The Humane Society of the United States." RSS. The Humane Society of
Over 71 million American households (62%) have a pet, and most people think of their pets as members of the family. Some research studies have found that people who have a pet have healthier hearts, stay home sick less often, make fewer visits to the doctor, get more exercise, and are less depressed. Pets may also have a significant impact on allergies, asthma, social support, and social interactions with other people (Casciotti) .
“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.