How Pets Relieve Stress

by Aimee Amodio | More from this Blogger

08 Feb 2008 09:38 PM

I had a discouraging morning at work today. By the time I got home, I was sad and cranky and in a generally bad mood.

And then I opened the door. My German shepherd mix, Moose, came waddling up and jammed his nose into my hand. My boxer mix, Lally, came bounding up with her squeaky ball in her mouth and her tail wagging.

And I just had to smile.

Pets have an amazing ability to relieve stress. It's hard to keep feeling bad when you have a barking, licking, wiggling, warm fuzzy bundle of joy around. It's hard to stay down when the dogs are so very happy to see me -- whether I've been gone for five minutes or five hours.

Here are just a few things that pets do for us:

• Unconditional love. Even on our worst days, somebody out there still loves us a lot. No matter what we do or say.
• Give you a reason to get up in the morning. It's hard to be lazy when there are two dogs who need me to get up and take them out for a walk. And hey, that walking is good for me, too -- since we left our fenced yard behind and have been taking at least four walks per day, I've gone down a pants size.
• Lower blood pressure. Studies have shown that stroking a pet has a calming effect. It can lower your heart rate and blood pressure.
• Lull you to sleep. Ever notice how warm your pets are? I can't help but not off when there's an animal on my lap.
• Make you feel safer. I'm pretty sure that nobody is going to try to break into my apartment -- not with the sound of two big dogs on the other side of the door. I can go out walking at night with my dogs at my side and feel perfectly secure.

Learn more about Aimee Amodio

Aimee is a fiction writer... dog lover... music lover...

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