The Benefits of Pet Therapy
– a different way of looking at it!
How does one put feelings into words? Describe a frame of mind, especially as it is changing? Tell someone else how and why pet therapy makes you feel …better?
We’ll try to list and explain the benefits of pet therapy – with single words rather than get caught up in the tangle of sentences and clauses. Hopefully, these words capture the magic that can happen.
- Better….Lighter.
- Accepted just because you exist.
- Calmer than a few minutes ago, happier than before the dog arrived.
- The presence of a dog, just the very presence can give you the
Encouragement to work harder
Motivation to get up and move
A reason to talk to someone
Hope that things will get better
- There is no judgment coming from that dog
No expectations except maybe for a scratch and a treat.
Because that dog needs you for who you are, you can be just that – who you are.
- When the dog is with you, you can read more confidently
Walk farther
Tell him your secrets – because he promises not to tell anyone, ever.
- The good oxytocin, dopamine, and serotonin increase in your body while the bad cortisol decreases – so you feel better even without the emotional aspects of being with the pet.
- You may get distracted by the antics of the pet, make contact with a warm, living breathing being with lots of textures to reach out and touch, brush, cuddle. You might just end up playing a little and smiling a lot. And that dog becomes your companion, your friend, and your reason to smile.
- Pet therapy touches humans psychologically, physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. These pets provide healing for any and every part of you that is hurting.
This is what PAWS for People offers when we share the love of our pets.