Posted by Russell Gibbons on 6th Jul 2016

FINDING HAPPINESS WITH PETS - PART 2

In Part 1, we discussed what happiness actually is and then touched briefly on how pets can help.

In Part 2 lets discuss how pets help with happiness shall we?

Psychologists from the Miami University in the United States have found that pets help people in a number of ways.

1.Give us better Self-Esteem.
- They do this by showing us their unequivocal love for us.
  - Hence, no matter what happens in our day we know they are there solely for us no matter what!
2.Helps us be more conscientious.
- We need to think about another beings needs. Not just our own!
  - They need water and food and exercise etc…
3.Keeps us more social.
- We need to get out of the house to exercise them.
  - This means we might bump into people with other pets out and about.
- Our pets are a source of conversation. Other people with pets will also want to talk about their pets.
4.Helps us with better inter-personal relationships.
- They teach us to show emotion by virtue of us giving them time and love.
5.Reduces stress for us.
- By patting our pets we tend to de-stress.
- By exercising with our pets we de-stress.
- They take our focus off our concerns in life because we have to focus on them when we get home.
  - Feeding, patting, exercising, grooming etc…..
6.Those of us with pets experience being depressed or lonely less.
- They are always there for company.
  - So we are never alone.
- Their enthusiasm for life affects ours.
7.Keep us active physically.
- They make us exercise more because they need it and demand it.
8.Build up and encourage resilience.
- They teach us about life and death and to value things whilst we have them.

Further to these positive aspects of pet ownership, it is important to recognize that other studies as reported in Psychology Today, it doesn’t really matter what type of pet you actually have!

Regardless if you have a Horse, a Dog, a Cat, Guinea pig, rabbit etc….. it has been found that it is more about what lies within the pet owners mind than what the actual pet is that counts.

When we treat our pets like they are an extension of us, our family, or our social group, we are giving them a certain human element which allows our psyche to connect…… we anthropomorphize.

And this habit is unique to humans, which is the one thing which allows us to connect so solidly to our pets……we humanize them……think how we give them human names???

Pets don’t care for names……they just want to be cared for and loved! But WE care about names because that gives them identity.

This humanization of pets then becomes really important to helping with our happiness……Be it a horse, dog, cat etc…… humanizing something now means our mind can connect as though they were our human friends and as such, our pets become a really important part of our social network.

Interesting stuff isn’t it!

Further to this, another study presented in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,found that pet owners enjoyed better well-being ….. , and the support that pets provided complemented, rather than competed, with human sources.

So the humanization means that our pets aren’t necessarily competing with our friends or family, however they are providing, or fulfilling, a gap which we may not be getting from those networks…..

I suppose none of this should really surprise us!

I mean pets have been an integral part of a humans life for thousands of years…… They began from a practical stand-point rather than an emotional stand-point initially.

Dogs were protectors and helped us hunt…….Cats helped keep vermin away…..and horses provided transport and carried heavy loads!!!!

With this in mind, it’s little wonder we have developed emotional connections……

But this is where we come in!

Now that we understand how pets make us happy, we at Huds and Toke, feel we help with creating these connections.

As a business, we “Aim to Create Awesome Memories” with the pets of the world…..and that’s how we can help with your happiness…..

Our pets then do their part to keep us with that feeling and then, most importantly, we need to continue to do our part in this happiness equation!!!

Remember, pets are not the reason we are happy…….we control this! They are simply there to help with our happiness…..

So….now that we all understand happiness better……AND we know for a fact that people with pets are happier, healthier and less stressed than people without………go out and spend some time with your animal family members…….

Being happy is better than the alternative.

Visit out shop to get your awesome pet treats to help and why not take some photos and send them to us???

All the best from the team here @ Huds and Toke and from me….Russell Gibbons.