Human Relationship With Dogs and its Effects on Life During Covid Pandemic

The nature of the human's relationship with their companion dogs has witnessed a big change due to the restrictions imposed on human lives owing to Covid 19! And this is entirely a new situation that needs to be given a thoughtful consideration! Many pet dogs used to be mostly alone all day while their human mates went out to workplaces or schools. The situation for many such lonely canines is now different, as their entire pack (the family) stay at home and work or school from home. This has certainly affected especially the mental health of both the dogs and their humans quite positively! I have spoken with some of my friends and readers of my blog about their lives with or without a pet while maintaining a social isolation. Most of them claimed that their lives with their companion pets were different because living with their dogs day long, while working/schooling from home has had a therapeutic psychological impact during the crisis phase of uncertainty and stressfulness. My intention was to determine how relationship of the humans with their companion canines positively contributed to their mental health during the pandemic that caused severe emotional stress. 

Interestingly, the outcome of my small personal survey is exactly in line with that of bigger and more scientific surveys that had been carried out by big institutions and organizations like MetLife, CivicScience - the market research organization, University of York and the University of Lincoln

Some Interesting Responses From my Friends and Readers in my Small Survey 

My friend from China - Vanessa Pei said, "The cute cat named Yuki... He is a male cat. My sister and her husband hardly got time to interact due to their severe workloads, which impacted their work-life balance adversely. During the work from home phase in pandemic Yuki's presence has had a great impact in the family. It's that cute cat that brought my sister and her husband closer. They have more time to talk with each other. Because the kitten help reduce my sister's and her husband's stress. They often choose to discuss the distribution of household works..." 

Bonnie

Bonnie Lindsay, my friend from California (now in Delhi) said, "Leisel is with me every moment of the day, and is my sweet girl and a Godsend during this pandemic." "It's not easy to take a selfie with a wiggly dog," she said. However, she has still tried one and sent over a beautiful picture - above! And she continued, "My Liesel impacted my life in such a loving way. I was home everyday by myself and she was with me every moment. She gave sweet "doggie kisses" to me and l know she loves me so much and I love her so much too. She is my buddy. 😊"

Mary Mcintire

Mary Mcintire, one of my readers from Michigan said, "In the US, a lot of animals have been adopted from shelters because of the pandemic, which is a great news!". She said, "They give us unconditional love, they are wonderful distraction, they make us laugh and keep us busy so we are not watching the news every second of the day. they have needs that we have to meet and that give us purpose." 

Rightly said Mary! The presence of companion pets have given a purpose to some millions of depressed humans to stay positive during this stressful social isolation phase of Covid 19 pandemic.  

The motive of this small personal survey was to determine where the presence of pet impacted their life and psychological health. 2.6% of my friends said that having a pet during this pandemic created a financial burden for them, which in turn contributed to their mental stress. Rest were very positive about their pets, having an improved mental health.  

Gaurav

 

Gaurav Sharma from Delhi, India said, "The testing times of lock-down during the Covid-19 Pandemic has taken a significant psychological toll on most of us. However, having companionship as pets is a boon for the pet owners during these times. Our pets too got to spend a lot of time with their hoomans! I brought my pet - a German Shepherd puppy during the middle of the lock-down. The time spent with him during his initial few months at home has not only helped a great lot to form a deep bond between us but also the demanding care of the puppy consumed a significant part of my free time during lock-down. As they say a busy mind is a characteristic of a modern, fast way of life. With 'modernity' and 'fastness' both coming to a standstill during lockdown, being a pet parent and having a loving companion could nothing be less than a blessing." 

The hot question during this period where so many families are self isolating is whether their pet is helping to improve their owner's mental health. This survey found that 63% of the respondents claim that their pet is helping to improve their psychological status and to reduce their stress levels over all. An interesting sidelight is that women are 7% more likely to say that their pet is improving their mental health than do their male counterparts.  

There has been a noticeable rise in pet adoption irrespective of pedigreed animals or stray mongrels during the Covid 19 Pandemic; And this was mainly noticed in the US. Probably to beat the isolation blues people intended to adopt pets. Animal Shelter Administrator Mindy Naticchioni from Cuyahoga County Animal Shelter, said “Adoption rates have skyrocketed. Dogs are being adopted quickly and all the dogs we sent into temporary foster homes (about 70) when we closed in March were adopted.”

Related Read

So Exactly How the Presence of a Pet Is Helping Humans to Maintain Mental Health During Covid?

According to a new survey, "sharing a home with a pet appeared to act as a buffer against psychological stress during lockdown."

The outcome of the study - from the University of York and the University of Lincoln is worth mentioning. Author, Professor Daniel Mills from the School of Life Sciences at the University of Lincoln said: "This work is particularly important at the current time as it indicates how having a companion animal in your home can buffer against some of the psychological stress associated with lockdown. However, it is important that everyone appreciates their pet's needs too, as our other work shows failing to meet these can have a detrimental effect for both people and their pets." 

Lead author, Dr Elena Ratschen from the Department of Health Sciences University of York added: "While our study showed that having a pet may mitigate some of the detrimental psychological effects of the Covid-19 lockdown, it is important to understand that this finding is unlikely to be of clinical significance and does not warrant any suggestion that people should acquire pets to protect their mental health during the pandemic."

ScienceDaily has published an article worth reading about the study conducted by the University of York and the University of Lincoln!