The Pet and Owner Relationship Pet ownership benefits people through increased feelings of wellbeing, long-term companionship and a decreased risk of a variety of health problems. A healthy happy relationship between people and their pets or other animals consists of mutual respect, trust and love. However, such a relationship can only occur when the needs of an animal are understood.   click to read more quotes and testimonials The Role of Pets in Child Development Behavioural interactions with pets are generally parallel to the developmental changes in interaction patterns that children have with familiar humans, including parents, siblings, and peers. Examination of children's attitudes toward pets reveals that many of them ascribe a rich range of social attributes to these animals. Some of these attributes--especially love and affection, companionship, intimacy, and nurturance--also are used in the children's description of their relationships with other specific people, but other attributes-- for example, ownership and entertainment--are uniquely ascribed to pets. Of course, children differ in their attitudes and relationships toward pets, and some of these differences can be related to factors such as family size, presence or absence of younger siblings, and family income. The long-term consequences for children of establishing such relationships with pets and other animals have not been studied to date in any detail, although a number of studies of children in diverse family circumstances suggest that, at least for some, the presence of a pet is greatly beneficial. It has been suggested that exposure to pets should facilitate the establishment and maintenance of relationships with peers, especially in grade and high school. ( http://consensus.nih.gov/ta/003/003_statement.htm ) Considerations as the Teacher and "Owner" of Classroom Pets Classroom pets are an important part of a child’s education. It often exposes the child to a part of science, animals, that otherwise might not be fully explored. In addition, classroom pets teach a certain level of responsibility with mortal consequences. On the other had, failure to properly care for a pet can lead to illness and even death. Classroom pets can be interesting to just observe, but they can add to a well-rounded education. A host of geography questions could be asked. What country was the pet found in first? Aspects of mathematics can be performed by measuring consumption of food and water. Percentages of body weight versus the consumption of food and water can be charted. Growth records can be maintained. In addition, several basic science questions can be studied. Basic anatomy of internal organs can be examined in charts; measurements of respiration and heart rate can be made. What organs contribute to these basic necessities? Certainly, let us not forget basic reproduction (make sure you know the sex of those litter critters or you may be in for a surprise!) English and reading can be integrated also by trips to the library to find fictional and non-fictional accounts of the classroom pet. Stories can be written about your classroom pet as well as artistic accounts of its adventure into the real world around humans. As a teacher, several considerations of husbandry, housing, and handling need to be placed on your shoulders. Care for the classroom pet over weekends and holidays needs to be assigned. Some classroom pets can be literally starving or dehydrated by Monday morning. Going from five days of noise and confusion and attention to two days of isolation can be extremely stressful to the pet. Food guidelines should be strictly adhered. Failure to use the proper feed can lead to complications. Finally, it is important to emphasise that owning a pet is a commitment for the life of the pet, not just a day or a week or two. Children also need to know about the responsibilities associated with pet ownership. Recommendations have been handed down for years to research the specific requirements of the pet, before owning it. ( http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/fil/pages/webtheeffejo.html )   Direct Influence of Pets on the Development of Children Contact with pets develops nurturing behaviour in children who may grow to be more nurturing adults (Melson, 1990). Children exposed to humane education programs display enhanced empathy for humans compared with children not exposed to such programs. (Ascione, 1992). Positive self-esteem of children is enhanced by owning a pet. (Bergensen, 1989). Children's cognitive development can be enhanced by owning a pet. (Poresky, 1988). The presence of a dog during a child's physical examine decreases their stress. (Nadgengast, 1997, Baun, 1998). Children owning pets are more involved in activities such as sports, hobbies, clubs or chores. (Melson, 1990) Companionship of pets (particularly dogs) helps children in families adjust better to the serious illness and death of a parent (Raveis, 1993). ( http://www.velmaspetsastherapy.freeservers.com/whats_new.html ) Social-Emotional Development There is scientific evidence that self-esteem is an important aspect of the social emotional development of children. If there are pets in the house, parents and children frequently share in taking care of the pet, which suggests that youngsters learn at an early age how to care for and nurture a dependent animal. For younger children, involvement, positive reinforcement and acceptance are important for building self-esteem. Accomplishing tasks appropriate to their age, when taking care of the pet with their parents, makes a child feel more competent. As the child grows older the allocation of responsibility for pet-care management changes in a child centered family. Bergesen found that children's self-esteem scores increased significantly over a nine month period of keeping pets in their school class room. In particular, it was children with originally low self-esteem scores who showed the greatest improvements. Covert et al. found that early adolescent pet owners had higher self-esteem scores than non-pet owners. Davis found a significant positive association between pre-adolescents' affective relationships with the family dog and their perceived self-concept. Another aspect of social-emotional development is empathy, the child's ability to understand how someone else feels. According to Paul it is possible that by interacting with pets that are totally dependent on the owner, children learn to understand the feelings and needs of animals and those of fellow human beings from an early age. Bryant found that children who owned pets felt more empathy towards other people. Pets also have been cited as providing important 'social' support. Bachman found that children regularly nominated pets when asked who they would go to with a problem. Brickel reports that companion animals can provide emotional support. Levinson believed that this sort of emotional support could be important for the healthy psychological development of all children. The 'social' support given by pets has some advantages compared to the social support given by humans. Pets can make people feel unconditionally accepted, whereas fellow humans will judge and may criticize. Ross stated that social support given by other humans can be threatening. Enduring affection is a significant source of the potential benefit and pleasure that pets can bring to children. Children sense that pets will love and accept them unconditionally (even when the child gets angry or performs poorly at school) and provide a source of non-judgemental affection This does not mean that pets can replace humans. They can give emotional support, but they cannot give instrumental support, such as advice, or help with homework. Cognitive Development Poresky et a1. associated improved cognitive development with the bond between children and pets. It has been suggested that pet ownership might facilitate language acquisition and enhance verbal skills in children. This would occur as a result of the pet functioning both as a patient recipient of the young child's babble and as an attractive verbal stimulus, eliciting communication from the child in the form of praise, orders, encouragement and punishment. However no real evidence has yet been offered to support these hypotheses. More research is needed to find out whether pets could have any influence on the cognitive development. ( More info available on http://www.deltasociety.org/dsx211.htm )       >>> return to top of page

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