How a Dog can Help your Child Struggling with Behavioral Issues

If you have a child who is struggling with behavioral issues, it can be beneficial to allow the child to grow up with a dog. You may notice your child is calmer when he or she is connected with domestic animals. A family-friendly pet is likely to be beneficial to a child struggling with social, sensory or behavioral issues. Dogs may help children in many ways.

How a Dog can Help your Child Struggling with Behavioral Issues

Interaction

When children are interacting with their beloved pets rather than toys, they get to use their verbal and social skills for a longer period of time. If you are having conflicts with your children, give them time away to play with their dog alone. This will let them think while also being aware of his or her surroundings, rather than wrapped up in a video game.

Empathy

When children bond with their dogs, it helps them to be empathetic towards others who need their care. This may apply to other animals or fellow humans who are in need. If a child often misbehaves around other people or does not show care, having a dog they love can help teach this.

Positive Mood

Having interaction with a dog can improve a child’s mood and their emotions. The connection they share with their trusted pet will carry on into other places in their lives.

Anti-stress

Owning a dog can help to reduce anxiety. A dog’s presence can reduce the body’s amounts of cortisol, which is a stress-response hormone. Service dogs are trained to decrease the amount of this hormone in people and studies have been completed to show the amount of cortisol increasing and decreasing in people with the presence of a dog.

Responsibility

There is a lot to take care of when there is a dog in the house. Dogs need to be exercised on a regular basis, for example, which can encourage your child to play outside. They must also be cleaned up after. A child can be assigned chores that pertain to the dog such as vacuuming dog hair or wiping the floor after there have been wet paw marks. Children can also learn responsibility by feeding the dog and providing water every day. The dog may also need training, which will teach a child dedication and commitment.

If you choose to get a dog for your child who is struggling with behavioral issues, make sure that it is a family decision that will make everyone happy. A well-fit, family-friendly dog may be what your child is looking for to be able to better cope with their daily stressors.