Dogs Aid Childhood Social Development

By Amy Fernandez

Getting a dog has been one of the most popular ways to cope with quarantine and all the related stress that it entails. We’re still far from getting back to normal. Of course, the latest debate on this front is whether or not it will be safe to open schools in the fall. Some states have already declared that it’s not gonna happen. Online options have not lived up to expectations as far as preventing a learning lag. But what a lot of people consider more worrisome is the resultant lag in social and emotional development that also comes with the classroom environment. Well, a new study out from the University of Western Australia seems to validate that getting a dog was the smart thing to do.

This study looked at 1646 kids ages 3-5, so there was no actual classroom experience to use as a basis for comparison. Most of them hadn’t yet ventured into any actual classroom setting. Researchers compared those who had dogs at home to those that didn’t. And surprise, surprise, it seems that day to day interaction with a dog has a measurable beneficial impact in several ways.

The study, which investigated three major indicators of psychological development, found that children with dogs at home were 30 percent less likely to have behavior problems, 40 percent better at interacting with social peers and demonstrated 34 percent better social skills overall. They also demonstrated lower levels of hyperactivity and emotional instability.

More interestingly, this study didn’t focus on that cliché reason for teaching children responsibility which, as we know, accounts for a large chunk of dog ownership disasters. It focused on the mundane daily interactions that kids actually do with their family pet, such as playing with the dog or just hanging out with it. The biggest takeaway was the fact that, regardless of a family’s economic status, these benefits can enhance a kid’s development at a very early age.

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Posted by admin on Aug 16 2020. Filed under Current Articles, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.