My dog Izzy meets a little boy at a promotion for Greyhounds as Pets
Children who grow up with dogs and cats develop a greater level of emotional intelligence, research shows.
Children living with a pet develop:
a) Compassion – by learning to care for someone other than themselves, and understanding that a dog has feelings
b) Self-esteem – by being assigned tasks to help care for the family dog
c) Cognitive development – by playing, talking and even reading to the family dog
d) Understanding of life – because our dogs don’t live as long as we do, sometimes it is the loss of a family dog that is the child’s first real loss, teaching them to understand and manage grief. If your dog has puppies, they also understand that other animals become parents and have little offspring to care for.
And, as in adults, dog ownership is linked to managing stress. In today’s very modern world, children have more pressures on them at an earlier stage of life. Having a dog is an outlet for managing stress; such as when a child plays with or walks the dog – exercise helps reduce stress.
Source: Mother Nature Network
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