Caring for a pet is a big responsibility. Having an animal rely on you as their sole provider of food, love, affection, safety, and exercise can be overwhelming, but an amazing privilege at the same time. Bonding and caring for a pet is a childhood rite of passage.
The excitement of nurturing another being, which very quickly becomes a best friend, is incomparable to anything else. The experience of having a pet creates lifelong memories, and we will always remember our first pet.
But did you know that while having a pet is very entertaining and gives the family that warm fuzzy feeling, your pet can also positively affect your child in a much more profound way? Experts say a child’s physical, social, emotional and cognitive development can all be encouraged by interaction with the family pet.
Physical:
Having a pet helps kids improve their motor skills and also increases overall activity. In fact, a study showed that children in England who had dogs exercised on average 11 minutes more than children who don’t have dogs. It might not seem like a lot, but a little bit of exercise can be very beneficial to a small body.
Further studies in America have shown that children who are brought up with cats and dogs are healthier, had fewer respiratory and ear infections and needed shorter courses of antibiotics than children without pets.
Social:
We all know that dogs are man’s best friend, which is very true! But pets can help adults and children to make human friends too. For children especially, pets can be an incredible catalyst for socialising. Children are more prone to approach and interact with another child who is playing with an animal so that a pet can be the bridge between a less socially outgoing child and other potential playmates.
Emotional:
Studies have shown that children who have pets have higher self-esteem. Children with low self-esteem may talk to, or confide in an animal in ways they would not work with people. They are often more confident in performing tasks they find difficult, with an animal, just because the animal does not care if mistakes are made, nor will the child be afraid of looking silly in front of the animal. Makes sense, right? A pet is a source of unconditional love which provides support, but never judges.
Cognitive:
Can having a dog make a child excel in school? According to a 2011 study, yes.
The study done on second-graders showed that the ones who read aloud to a dog made more significant strides in their reading ability than their peers who read out loud to an adult, possibly due to the dog’s ability to help reduce a child’s stress and the fact that a dog provides nonjudgmental support.
Having a pet might also encourage a child to learn more about animals in general and in turn foster an appreciation for research and science.
Adopting a pet is a huge commitment and shouldn’t be taken lightly, but it might be the best thing you could ever do for your kids’ childhood experience.
