Dogs with Jobs by Laura Greaves

Author:Laura Greaves
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Non-Fiction
ISBN: 9781760143558
Publisher: Penguin Random House Australia

Would you work seven days a week for nothing more than treats and cuddles? Frankie the labrador does – she’s a therapy dog at Sydney’s Bear Cottage, a hospice for children with life-limiting illnesses. It’s Frankie’s job to put a smile on the faces of sick children and their families, and she always gives it 100 per cent. (Bear Cottage)

It is a truth universally acknowledged that five minutes in the company of a dog can change a person’s day for the better. There’s just something about a soft coat, a pair of liquid brown eyes and that sense of quiet, judgement-free comfort that makes all seem right with the world.

The human–animal bond is so powerful, in fact, that the simple presence of a dog can lower blood pressure and regulate the heart rate in stressful situations. In a 2002 study, American researchers set participants a timed maths task and compared the changes in blood pressure and heart rate of those who owned a dog with those who didn’t. The dog owners not only had lower resting heart rates and blood pressure to begin with, they were less likely to have spikes while solving the maths problem, and their heart rates and blood pressure returned to normal more quickly than those without pets. When their dog was in the room, participants even made fewer errors in their arithmetic, which led the boffins to conclude that dogs reduce stress.

Similar research, also from the United States, found that the presence of a pet dog is actually a more effective way of lowering blood pressure in stressful situations than taking ACE inhibitors, a widely used type of blood pressure medication. Another study, published in the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine in 2015, found that stroking a dog can help to lower both blood pressure and cholesterol.

The calming effect of dogs on children is even more remarkable. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention asked the parents of 643 kids aged between four and ten to track their body mass index (BMI), physical activity, screen time and mental health over the course of eighteen months. Fifty-eight per cent of the children surveyed had pet dogs, and while there was no difference in BMI, exercise or screen time among those with dogs and those without, the kids with four-legged friends experienced less anxiety than their dogless peers. More than 20 per cent of the children who did not have a dog had stress and anxiety, according to the standardised Screen for Child Anxiety Related Disorders (SCARED) test, compared to just 12 per cent of the kids with dogs.

And that’s not all. In another study, which measured blood pressure, heart rate, and behavioural distress in healthy children aged three to six during two separate doctor visits, all the kids had lower blood pressure, lower heart rates, and less behavioural distress when a dog – not even their own dog – was in the room. Research has also revealed that seven-and eight-year-old children say pets are better providers of comfort and self-esteem than humans.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.