Pet dogs improve social-emotional development in young children

While owning a dog acts as a stress buster, recent research has found that owning, walking or playing with a dog may help toddlers in their social and emotional development. The research suggests that young children from dog-owning households have better social and emotional wellbeing than children from households with no dog. Associate Professor Hayley Christian, the corresponding author said: “While we expected that dog ownership would provide some benefits to young children’s wellbeing, we were surprised that the mere presence of a family dog was associated with many positive behaviours and emotions.” Among children from dog-owning households, those who joined their family on dog walks at least once a week were 36 % less likely to have poor social and emotional development than those who walked with their family dog less than once per week. Associate Professor Hayley Christian said, “Our findings indicate that dog ownership may benefit children’s development and wellbeing and this could be attributed to the attachment between them and dogs. Stronger attachment between children and their pets may be reflected in the amount of time spent playing and walking together and this may promote social and emotional development.” To examine children’s social and emotional development and its possible association with family dog ownership, the authors analysed data collected between 2015 and 2018 as part of the Play Spaces and Environments for Children’s Physical Activity study.