7 Reasons Why Pets are Good for Kids

Pets are known to have a beneficial impact on people’s lives by improving their mental, physical and emotional health. This applies not only to adults, children can also greatly benefit from having a pet. Let’s take a closer look at the 7 main reasons why pets are good for kids. And when you need someone to take care of your pet dog while you work or go on an out-of-town trip, you may consider bringing your dog to a luxury boarding facility.

Reason 1. Self-confidence

Nowadays children are under a lot of pressure both at school and at home. They often find themselves in situations where their confidence is shaken such as their parents’ divorce, moving to another school or increased academic demands. Pets can be a great way to deal with these problems as they help children to build self-confidence. Feeding a pet, taking care of it and nurturing it, helps to create a sense of worthiness and builds confidence. Moreover, pets can help comfort children in demanding situations and give them a sense of belonging and acceptance, so can rare pets. Self -confidence helps children to overcome difficult times and helps to grow emotionally.

Reason 2. Self-esteem

Without self-esteem, children will not be able to develop their full potential and become strong, resilient adults. Dogs or rare pets like birds or reptiles (for older kids) can greatly contribute to developing self-esteem. Which kid doesn’t feel an increased sense of self-esteem when all his friends admire his dog? The same applies to children who have other pets, especially uncommon pets which everyone wants to see. Children will be proud of keen to show that they are able to take care of and handle their pets with skill. If you’d like to learn more about dogs, you might want to visit this link to know about them.

Reason 3. Responsibility 

According to expert vets from a clinic located in Portland Oregon, caring for a pet teaches children how to take responsibility for another living being. The earlier children learn to take responsibility (in a gentle way), the better it will be for them in later life. Looking after pets helps children understand that you need to do things correctly such as feeding, cleaning out the cage and brushing in order to keep the pet healthy and happy. This is one of the most important lessons kids should learn in their childhood as being able to take responsibility will affect their whole life in a positive way.

Reason 4. Communication skills

Communication skills, both verbal and non-verbal, are of utmost importance for positive relationships with parents, siblings, and friends. It can even prepare kids for being more successful in their future jobs. The easiest way to learn communication is to observe pets. A study revealed that 92% of surveyed C-Suite executives, said that they learned to pay attention to non-verbal communication from their pets. Understanding non-verbal communication is vital to predict the reaction of the counterpart and to judge any situation. This helps children to improve and clarify their communication which improves their social relationships tremendously. 

There are many reasons why you should consider enrolling your dog in a Dog training class. With proper dog training, you can help your dog learn basic obedience commands, such as sit and stay, while ensuring its safety and wellbeing. 

Reason 5. Nurturing

Pets, especially dogs, can help children become caring, kind and nurturing. You check here for professional dog training if you are wondering how to train dog not to fear vacuum, instill obedience, and help them reach their highest potential. This is great preparation for adult life when they have partners and children of their own. Moreover, some professions, especially in medical and education fields, require staff that have high nurturing levels. 

Reason 6. Trust 

Children often rely heavily on their pets and they become their best friends. They entrust their secrets, hopes and dreams as well as their problems, worries and sadness. A pet will never betray this trust as people sometimes do. Therefore, the child learns that when you trust another living being, it will trust you too. When a child can trust him or herself, he or she will be able to create deep-rooted meaningful relationships with others and to overcome obstacles in life with resilience and willpower. 

Reason 7. Leadership

The development of leadership skills is helpful even during school and later in the professional life. Having pets is the best preparation to become a good and thoughtful leader. According to a study, pet ownership and leadership skills are closely related. Some 92% of surveyed C-Suite executives attributed pets to having helped them develop the ability to discipline subordinates. 79% regarded pet ownership as important to developing better organisational skills. But it’s not just about leadership at work – when kids grow up, they need to be able to make decisions and lead the way of their future families.  

In my opinion, there is not better way to develop positive character traits than to have pet dogs from an American Bully Breeder. Pets can be the best teachers in our lives. They can lay a solid foundation for kids to become strong, confident, and empathic adults who can create positive relationships in their private and professional lives. This is the best gift that we can give our children for a better future.

Article by Dr Margit Gabriele Muller, leading vet and award winning author of Your Pet, Your Pill: 101 Inspirational Stories About How Pets Lead You to A Happy, Healthy and Successful Life, available on Amazon.