Rachel Mealey: They might be considered man’s best friend, but research released today reveals puppies may not boost everyone’s mental health. Kimberley Price reports.
Kimberley Price: For Lauren Brown, having a dog in her life gave her a sense of purpose.
Lauren Brown: Her name was Macy. Having that kind of commitment every day, you know, taking her for walks and just having something to care about actually pulled me through a few things.
Kimberley Price: Macy has since passed away, but Lauren believes having a dog in their family really helped her daughter Sophie with forming friendships.
Lauren Brown: Only recently we were visiting family and they had a neighbourhood dog to come over and I looked out the window and Sophie was brushing the hair of the dog. Yeah, that’s really, really beautiful to watch.
Kimberley Price: A survey from the United Kingdom has found adding a puppy into a family unit can have many mental health benefits, but also challenges. At Melbourne Park, Fiona says there have been some hurdles with her dog, Mako.
Fiona: She recently did her Achilles, so that cost quite a bit and I get a dog walker when I’m working, come and take her out, that costs money and yeah.
Kimberley Price: Lead researcher Dr Rowena Packer is a senior lecturer at the Royal Veterinary College in London.
Rowena Packer: Although we found lots of positive results about how, for example, dogs provided companionship for children, there was lots of unexpected negatives for those families too.
Kimberley Price: Born out of the surge in dog ownership during the COVID-19 pandemic, the study interviewed over 200 children with puppies and some were finding it difficult having a pet.
Rowena Packer: The dogs being quite annoying to them, interrupting them, wanting to play with them when they didn’t want to. The responsibilities, things that they really weren’t keen on.
Kimberley Price: Dr Packer was surprised to learn that parents also found it hard navigating the extra responsibility of having a dog, with 95% of primary puppy care giving jobs falling to women.
Rowena Packer: The mums in these families, so their female caregivers, were really shouldering what we might consider the burden of dog ownership.
Kimberley Price: Almost all the children in the study were interacting with dogs in ways that could increase the risk of being bitten. Associate Professor Susan Hazel from the School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences at the University of Adelaide says parents need to better supervise their children when playing with their four-legged friends.
Susan Hazel: Children are unpredictable, so the child might do something which is painful to the dog and the dog’s initial reaction might just be to snap.
Kimberley Price: She believes for people thinking of getting a puppy, they need to have broader conversations than just assuming a dog will help boost their mental health.
Susan Hazel: The responsibility and the time commitment that you need in getting a dog, they should be taken to training classes, they will require vaccinations and veterinary visits, so there are also financial things that you need to have set up.
Rachel Mealey: Associate Professor Susan Hazel from the University of Adelaide, Kimberley Price reporting.