Something we all knew

I have always heard that people with pets live longer. We have two dogs and I sometimes go round and round with an old work friend In interesting conversations. He considers them a pita and poo producers. He sends me this links and this is just one of them. Im sure not getting rid of these critters but he does have a point if you take GW seriously. It will probably be awhile before they ban pets. Oh wait, i should go search that very topic first because they could be!!! Lol

Not trying to be controversial, but the problem with studies like this is that it is almost impossible to factor in all variables, and too easy to jump to conclusions that may or may not be correct.

Something we all know is that pets tend to be a part of more established, traditional family structures. Pets are an expense, so homes with pets tend to have parents that hold steady jobs. So well-adjusted kids growing up with pets might (and probably) is more a result of those kids growing up in more stable family structures, and pets just happen to be a part of that home structure. Pets being in those homes is probably the result of the homes being more stable, not the cause.

Statistics are nice, but interpretation of those statistics is extremely difficult.

Agreed, this was in the article:

The research did not, however, prove a cause-and-effect link between a dog and a child’s behavior, stating that it could be coincidental that youngsters with good social and emotional development have dogs or that the families of children with dogs may offer more nurturing environments.

The fact that they found that children that had more interactions with the dog each day showed greater consideration for others than those that had fewer is a significant finding.

I believe not only young children but adults as well benefit greatly. If any of you watched Titans last night one of the contestants,an army paratrooper, was very depressed over losing his buddy. He got a pug and climbed out of his depression and even brought his dog with him to the Titan games. He admitted to it on National tv. He didn't win the game but in my world he is definitely a Titan.

It doesn’t mean that kids cant be taught in other ways but a dog is a great way to teach Kids responsibility, order, kindness and compassion. Our granddaughter started out learning to feed their dog then I taught her how to not step in the end result. When she started walking around the yard with me. I’d say remember no “doo doo on your shoe shoe” and she learned to watch where she’s walking. I then related it to watching for snakes since they have plenty of rattlesnakes and corral snakes.

It helps them learn that there is more than just themselves.