Dogs and Babies! A Match Made in Heaven

Said to be man’s best friend, dogs can provide kids with a host of benefits as well, even in very early childhood.

REPORTING BY Raphael Blet

Have you noticed that almost every young family has a dog? Sometimes the baby comes first, sometimes it’s the pup. Either way, dog ownership is the way many of us measure our family’s ‘completeness’. This phenomenon is particularly noticeable in DB (Dogs and Babies, right?), where every family seems to have at least one of each. The question is why. Why does the picture of an ‘ideal family’ contain a dog? For sure, photos of our children playing with their brand-new pedigree pup or endearing rescue mutt can up our following on Instagram but there’s so much more to it than that. Research shows that dog ownership can positively contribute to our children’s health, both mental and physical. Let’s take a look.

TEACHING RESPONSIBILITY

Having a dog is a huge responsibility and, traditionally, that’s one of the main reasons we bring them into our kids’ lives. With a pet in the house, children learn what it means to take care of a dependant animal, one who relies on the family for pretty much everything from food and exercise to love and cuddles.

Getting children involved in a dog’s care prepares them for responsibilities later in life, and by the same token it builds their self-esteem. Once children realise that their dog’s survival and happiness is dependent on their actions, they will feel good about themselves and their achievement. There are numerous ways to involve kids in the care of a dog and the tasks you assign should be ageappropriate, such as allowing a three-year-old, who is too young to walk a dog, to put the water bowl down instead.

Older kids can of course take more responsibility, even sole responsibility for a dog. It’s important to ask yourself how much responsibility your child can handle. How much assistance will he need from you?

BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS

In bringing a dog into our children’s lives, many of us want to repeat the past… We look back to our own childhood when we were inseparable from our four-legged companion, and we want our children to have the same experience. A dog can be the perfect playmate, a source of comfort, a trusted friend and a supplier of unconditional love.

The bond that develops between kids and their dogs can be very strong, so much so that children often name their pet when asked who they would go to with a problem. Dogs can make children feel unconditionally accepted, whereas friends, siblings and sometimes even parents can judge and criticise.

Research shows that dog ownership also makes children happier and less stressed. Petting a dog has been proven to lower cor tisol levels in both the person and the pet. Playing with a dog ups serotonin and dopamine levels, meaning we feel good. In choosing a four-legged playmate for your child, it can be dif ficult to decide which breed is the best fit.

Golden Retrievers, Beagles and Irish Setters are all sound choices – known to be playful and protective. Pugs, Brussels Grif fons and French Bulldogs love their families – particularly their laps. Breeds associated with aggressive behaviour – German Shepherds, Pit Bull Terriers, Doberman Pinschers – are seldom seen on ‘best family dog’ lists but there are always exceptions. Remember that while breed plays a part, each dog has its own unique personality.

ENCOURAGING EMPATHY

Multiple studies show that children who own dogs are more empathetic, better able to understand and share the feelings of others, than those who don’t. As children bond with their dog, they learn to read its behaviour and understand its needs – they learn to know when it’s hungry and needs food, when it’s happy and wants to play, when it’s sad or stressed and needs affection.

It makes sense that this ability to empathise transfers to human interactions. Research shows that owning a pet can significantly lower the chances of children showing violent and/ or bullying behaviours. By the same token, their enhanced ability to empathise may lead them to stand up to bullies if they see their friends being badly treated.

We want our children to be kind, considerate and compassionate. Just as importantly, they need to learn to set boundaries for themselves and respect those of others. And here again dog ownership can help. Think about what happens when a child pulls a dog’s tail, or stomps on its feet. Despite not speaking our language, dogs are expressive enough to make us understand when we’ve crossed the line.

Discussing a dog’s reaction can open the way for a wider conversation with our children about their own personal boundaries and those of their friends.

PROMOTING PHYSICAL HEALTH

One of the most obvious benefits of dog ownership is that it keeps kids active. But it may surprise you to know just how active they are compared to children who don’t own dogs. According to a Child Heart and Health Study (CHASE), a St George’s project examining the health of 5,000 UK-based primary school students, children with dogs spend an average of 325 minutes (more than five hours) doing physical activity per day, 11 more minutes than those without dogs.

Dog owners also spend 11 fewer minutes (562 minutes over the seven-day stint) in sedentary behaviour each day, and they were found to take 360 more steps than the other kids. Surprisingly enough, homes with dogs are also healthier for kids. Research has shown that babies in homes with dogs have fewer colds, fewer ear infections, and need fewer antibiotics in their first year of life than those raised in pet-free homes.

Children who grow up with a dog have fewer respiratory tract infections and get asthma much less often than other kids. It’s not clear why living with a dog makes such a difference. A time-honoured theory, the hygiene hypothesis, suggests that children’s immune systems mature best when infants are exposed to germs in just the right amount. Too many germs are unhealthy but so is a sterile, germ-free home. That theory is now giving way to the microbiome hypothesis. It’s no longer about getting exposed to the right number of microbes, but to good bacteria and viruses that alter the microbes in children’s intestines and protect against both allergies and infections. Of course, this isn’t a one-size-fits-all kind of thing.

It would be a mistake to bring a dog into the house of a 12-year-old with asthma – exposure has to happen very early in life. And what of kids who are allergic to dogs? Are any dog breeds hypoallergenic? The shor t answer is no but there are less-allergenic breeds – dogs with a low-shedding coat – around whom allergy-sufferers can sometimes be comfortable.

Call your local animal shelter, they might just happen to have an almost hairless Chinese Crested who’s waiting patiently to complete your family.