The Province

How puppy love can strengthen ties with people

Relationsh­ips with humans tend to benefit from close bonds with a pet

- GALADRIEL WATSON

A recent study found that children who feel close to their pet dogs are also more securely attached to their parents and have better bonds with their best friends. Researcher­s at Kent State University looked at 99 children ages nine to 11 who owned pet dogs. These children answered questionna­ires about their relationsh­ips with their dogs, parents and friends.

The study found if one type of relationsh­ip was strong, it’s likely the others were, too. In general, children with strong bonds with their dogs also had strong bonds with their parents and best friends. But which came first? Kathryn Kerns, a psychology professor at Kent State and one of the lead researcher­s, says they don’t know. It could be that caring for pets makes children feel closer to the significan­t humans in their lives, or it could be that their human relationsh­ips model how they should treat their pets. It could also be a reciprocal jumble: A positive experience with the pet leads to being more co-operative with parents, and that positive experience with parents leads to being closer to the pet, and soon.

The researcher­s also watched how the children interacted with their dogs. They found that those who had more physical contact with their pets had better relationsh­ips with their mothers — but not necessaril­y with their fathers (or friends).

“Given that mothers play a bit more of a role as a safe haven, as the one to go to for comfort, than dad, perhaps that’s why we found that effect,” Kerns says. “The close relationsh­ip with the mother might be more of a model for closeness with others, including the dog.”

Kerns and her team also did another study: How do pet dogs affect children’s emotions during stressful events?

The same 99 pre-adolescent­s were asked to deliver a five-minute autobiogra­phical speech. The speech would be watched live by the experiment­ers, and, to up the stress factor, videotaped to be supposedly evaluated later.

Half the children had their dogs in the room, while half didn’t. “Kids who had their dogs present felt much happier throughout the whole process,” Kerns says. And having physical contact with the dog — its chin on the child’s lap, or the dog leaning against the child’s leg — made the experience even less stressful.

In an unrelated study, children did a similar stress test either with a pet dog, with a parent or alone. The stress level was lowest when the children were with their dogs. Then there is a study on adults, who performed a stressful task with a pet dog, with a friend oral one. They were least stressed when they had their pet dogs with them. When alone, the stress level went up. And when with a friend, the stress level was highest of all.

Why can dogs offer better support than humans? “Humans can be judgmental in a way that dogs aren’t,” Kerns says. While we might worry a friend is silently evaluating our performanc­e, we know a dog couldn’t care less.

So might other pets have similar effects? Kerns and her team decided to study dogs because they have characteri­stics distinct from other pets: The ability to read emotions, loyalty and an affinity for physical contact. While other animals that allow for physical contact may offer similar benefits, like cats or even horses, the results probably wouldn’t hold up for more distant pets, like a fish.

As for extrapolat­ing the results to children of other ages, Kerns says she imagines it would work similarly: “We focused on pre-adolescent­s because that’s a time at which children are especially likely to talk about their pets in terms of them being friends.”

If you’re dog-less, though, don’t run out and buy one unless it has been a longtime family goal. The stress of owning a dog — from expenses to daily responsibi­lities — may not be worth the benefits. “They’re not always charming and fun,” Kerns says.

Also, they won’t help compensate for a child’s poor human relationsh­ips. “If your child doesn’t have a friend, then get them a dog and that will make up for it : I don’t think we found any evidence of that.”

But if you do have a pet dog, take advantage of it.

On the drive to the first day at a new school, let your child sit in the back seat of the car with your dog. If you’re going to announce a big move, make sure the dog’s at the family meeting, too.

 ?? AMY JOYCE/THE WASHINGTON POST ?? Caring for pets can improve kids’ human connection­s, a recent study finds.
AMY JOYCE/THE WASHINGTON POST Caring for pets can improve kids’ human connection­s, a recent study finds.

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