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Children & Pet Dogs

Pet dogs help kids feel less stressed. Pet dogs provide valuable social support for kids when they're stressed, according to a study by researchers, who were among the first to document stress-buffering effects of pets for children. Ref. Source 1q.

Dogs Pet and Children

As I said before, when I was a kid I was picked on something fierce. I was the new kid on the block. This went on all through elementary school. One thing that helped me was our dog. Her name was Tasha and she was an Alaskan Malamute. Man, I loved that dog and I'm pretty sure she loved me too. She was my friend. She helped keep me sane in some pretty tough times. Between her and my family I made it through and was stronger for it.

One of the best things about her was her keen sense of people. Of all the 'friends' I had back then one was the worst, the instigator. She would tolerate the other kids but she never liked Steven. Even before an incident I'll describe.

Rather off topic, but...
One day Steven sneaked into my backyard and was taunting Tasha while she was eating her dinner. We'd feed he in the backyard on a long chain. Well, I saw and ran out there and tried to stop him. While talking to him he sucker punched me and down we went, all rough and tumble, rolling around. Tash went crazy and broke her chain, and grabbed Steven's sleeve. Lucky for him I happened to be on top at that point. I got Tash calmed down and Steven scampered off home.

His dad threatened to have Tash put down and I was devastated. She was my friend, my outlet, and by that time she was part of the family, we'd had her for years. My dad, a retired Marine Colonel, took me by the arm and went and met Steven's dad in the middle of our street. I'm not sure I ever saw my dad that mad with his finger up in that man's face. When it was over there were no more threats of putting Tash down… and I wasn't bullied for quite a while… at least by Steven, only his surrogates.

So, that was off topic but the moral of the story is, dogs are not only great sources of stress relief, they are also great judges of character.

Edited: Abnninja on 12th May, 2017 - 4:55pm

Children & Pet Dogs Reviews Consumer & Travel Family Culture

Yes I think having a pet dog is a good thing for children. It helps them learn responsibility and have a great companion for them to enjoy and spend time with. Dogs are great companions.