OK, she’s 11. I don’t really want to admit it, but she is growing up. She is a thoughtful, caring young lady. One day in late March, Jason had to leave emergently to check on the Maine house for fear of freezing pipes. The last storm that swept through Maine left the house without power abruptly. I was on my way home from work, about 15 minutes out from home. He needed to leave. Ella was home alone with her best friend, Jake.
Ella and I talked by audio Facetime, I was on my phone in my car, she was on her iPad, because of course Jason took his phone with him. I could hear her walking around the house, doing after school stuff like plugging in her Chrome book, getting a snack, etc. We hit the dead zone on the hill into Riverton, so our connection was severed.
I have to say, I was freaking out just a little bit. I knew I was five minutes from home. Ella knew I was five minutes from home. But still. This was the first time we left Ella alone. Ever. We have become so accustomed to doing everything together. Including Jake. He comes along on car rides. He travels with us to Maine and Lake George. You can tell from the pictures he is her companion.
So, what I didn’t know until I got home was that Jake followed Ella everywhere throughout the house once Jason left. Wherever Ella went, Jake followed. If she sat down, he sat down right next to her. He would not leave her side. He was making a lot of squeaks and squeals, Ella thought he needed to go out, when she opened the door, he wouldn’t leave her. He was glued to her.
Adorable and amazing.
He knew that Jason had left and that I wasn’t home yet. He knew that he was in charge and he needed to protect her until another large human came home.
How do dogs tie into the theme for this blog? Researching about reducing stress naturally leads to pet ownership. Petting and taking care of an animal in your home can help to relieve anxiety and stress. Studies have demonstrated that human and animal interaction increase oxytocin levels in the brain. As you know, oxytocin is the “feel good hormone”. Oxytocin is responsible for creating that loving bond between mother and baby, and it also works wonders for calming the nervous system and strengthening bonds between humans and humans and animals. One study found that workplaces which are pet friendly or have workplace dogs have better employee engagement, are recommended more frequently, have increased retention, improved relationships between colleagues, decreased absenteeism, closer relationships between the leaders and colleagues and stronger performance on key outcomes. If all of these great things can happen at work, imagine what having a pet will do for your own families stress level! Humans enjoy exercise more, have better mental health and find joy and comfort in taking care of a pet.
One study found that there are three influencers to human health called the biopsychosocial model. As one can see from the name the influencers are:
Physiological (biology)- changes to our blood pressure, cortisol levels, heart rate
Psychological- personality, mood, emotions
Social- cultural, socioeconomic, social relationships, family dynamic
Owning or interacting with a dog specifically may impact each of these three influencers of human health. Dogs are also very sensitive to our emotional states and changes in our physiological markers so can usually determine if we need a friend close by. Just like Jake could tell that Ella was slightly anxious being alone in the house, he stuck by her side like glue.
I was never a dog person, in fact, I hated dogs. A few stories about dogs before coming to where I currently am with Jake.
First Story: As a little girl, I had a dream I was sitting cross legged on the ground, at the edge of the long jump track, waiting for one of my school friends to run the track and perform a long jump into the sand pit. A dark colored dog walked up to me and started biting my neck. In my dream, I was trying to get the dog off me to no avail. When I awoke, my pillow was jammed into my neck making it all the more realistic. I knew I never liked dogs and now I had a reason why!
Second Story: Meeting Porter for the first time. Porter was Jason’s Australian Shepard. I was making it to his condo before he was done with work. Jason left a “Scooby snack” for Porter on the door knob with a Post it Note of instructions to carefully open the door a few inches, let Porter smell the snack, all the while whispering sweet nothings to the dog, then open the door and let him have the treat, put his leash on and take him for a walk. He will love you forever (or bite you) it could go either way. Porter loved me. We were best buddies from that day forward.
Third Story: Visiting friends for the first time with Jason, early in our marriage. I walked in, was greeted by two very active pups- I think they were boxers. I settled in to chatting on the couch when all of a sudden one of the boxers jumped up onto my lap and inserted its tongue into my mouth! Yuck! I practically turned green. Jason knew how much I did not like dog kisses, dog drool, dogs near my face. Ever. I was so horrified, I ran to the bathroom and started rinsing out my mouth. I must have just had a tasty hors-devours that the dog could smell to make him do such a thing! All the while, Jason and friends were laughing hysterically at my violent reaction. What are the chances that the dog would French Kiss the one person in the room who hated to be licked by dogs!!!
On to Jake. Big and fluffy, Jake is an enormous teddy bear shaped fur ball. He sounds ferocious at times, especially when the UPS man is delivering something (like almost everyday! LOL), but Jake wouldn’t hurt a fly (he might eat one now and then, but he would never hurt or bite anyone). He is a love. Jake, Jason, Ella and I go almost everywhere together. He looks forward to car rides, river walks and running to Grammie’s house. We can’t imagine life without Jake.
Jake knows when we are upset. He comes right in for snuggles.
Jake knows when we are happy. He greets us always with his happy feet, swaying hips and wiggling nub tail.
Jake helps us reduce our stress by just being there- his big, furry, fluffy self. Always ready for pets and snuggles.
Be well,
Teresa
Additional Reading and Resources
www.habri.org
Gee, N, et al (2021). Dogs supporting human health and wellbeing: a psychosocial approach. Frontiers in Vet Science, 8, 1-11.
I, Cosmo, Carlie Sorosiak
The Art of Racing in the Rain, Garth Stein
What the Dog Saw, Malcolm Gladwell