Paw Print Blog

"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated."

Mahatma Gandhi

I'm sure you’ve noticed that when you pet a soft, warm cat or play fetch with a dog whose tail won't stop wagging, you relax and your heart feels a little warmer. Scientists have noticed the same thing, and they've have been exploring the complex way animals affect human emotions and physiology. The resulting studies have shown that owning and handling animals significantly benefits health, and not just for the young. In fact, pets may help elderly owners live longer, healthier, and more enjoyable lives.

A study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society as far back as May of 1999 demonstrated that independently living seniors that have pets tend to have better physical health and mental wellbeing than those that don't. They're more active, cope better with stress, and have better overall health. An even earlier 1997 study showed that elderly pet owners had significantly lower blood pressure overall than their contemporaries without pets.

I’m sure that this is no surprise to anyone, but it made me think about how I sometimes have a tendency to take wonderful things in my life for granted.

It’s taken me a long time to fully appreciate how much my animals have enriched my life.

Perhaps I’m getting wiser with age.  Perhaps I’m becoming a bit more attuned to the sweetness of life.  Perhaps I’m learning to be more grateful for the beauty that surrounds me on a daily basis. 

I see beauty in the black floppy ears that fall along the sides of two amazingly cute little faces.  I feel beauty in the form of breath exhaled through moist black snouts and in the feel of wet tongues on my hands as I am greeted at the door by an eight legged welcoming committee.  Often they are joined by Chloe, my daughter’s Malty-Poo puppy, to round out the number of legs to an even dozen.

And as I take my morning meditative walk, I mentally count off the number of wonderful things in my life and they are always on the list.

I am a very lucky woman. 

And I know that I am on their gratitude list as well.  I know that they are grateful to me for feeding them, cleaning up their messes, taking them to the vet when they are not feeling well, taking them for walks along the hiking trails, letting them sit on my lap while we watch television together and for giving them all the love that two puppies are capable of getting.

They are very lucky little pups.

We have a very symbiotic relationship.  The quality of my life is enhanced by having these two little critters in my life.  The quality of their lives is made possible because my love for them compels me to want to make them a priority in my life.   They are a priority and a major source of giggles and joy in my life.

Most pet owners fully understand what I’m talking about.  They don’t need scientific evidence to tell them what they already know.  Owning and caring for an animal brings out the best in our individual humanity, improves our health and enriches our lives.

Paulette Jones