PET OWNERSHIP: BENEFITS OF PAWSITIVE LIVING

THE world seems to be a very bleak place these days if constant reminders to be positive are anything to go by.

We have positive thinking, positive quotes, positive effects, positive lifestyle… and the list goes on.

Reading the paper one day, an advertisement on pet food caught my eye.

It was everything about pawsitive living. I thought the play on words was very clever indeed.

I am a huge advocate of keeping pets. Not being able to have a pet as a child, I allow my children to have any pet they want (with the exception of snakes and tarantulas) on one condition — that they mind them.

So far, our home has welcomed many creatures big and small — dogs, kittens, guinea pigs, birds, fish, iguanas, hedgehogs, sugar gliders, rabbits and hamsters.

Even wild birds nest in our porch.

If I could, I would have loved a baby elephant as well.

Pet ownership has a number of proven health benefits – physical, mental and emotional.

According to studies done by University of Wisconsin-Madison pediatrician James E. Gern, having a pet in the home can actually lower a child’s likelihood of developing related allergies by as much as 33 per cent.

In fact, his research, published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, shows that children exposed early on to animals tend to develop stronger immune systems overall. An interesting finding indeed.

Owning a pet encourages the development of social skills.

For us who need motivation in the exercise department, a dog can be our personal trainer.

Animals can be an instant icebreaker, whether they are with you or when you’re just talking about them.

I have countless occasions of meeting and chatting with other pet owners in the park when I walk my labrador, Hachi.

Truth be told, the tendency of pet owners is to look at the pet first and then the human who is walking the pet.

I feel sorry for children who have not been brought up to enjoy the companionship of pets.

Sometimes parents transfer their fear of animals to their children.

I had a visitor who started screaming in fear when she saw my chinchilla because she did not like small furry creatures and her children who had never seen a chinchilla before, followed suit and screamed as well.

Pets teach us responsibility. The owner becomes the carer.

Cleaning the cage and making sure there is water and food are all part of caring.

Children who throw stones at animals or taunt them in zoos obviously never had much bonding with pets.

Gail F. Melson, professor emeritus of developmental studies at Purdue University in Indiana, the United States and the author of Why the Wild Things Are: Animals in the Lives of Children, says that “Nurturing isn’t a quality that suddenly appears in adulthood when we need it”.

According to Melson, “you don’t learn to nurture because you were nurtured as a child. People need a way to practise being caregivers when they’re young”.

When a pet falls ill and dies, it is a lesson on empathy, grief and moving on.

Pets also provide companionship and relieve stress, especially among the sick and elderly.

Many hospitals and nursing homes use Animal-assisted Therapy (AAT) or Pet-facilitated Therapy (PFT) on a regular basis.

According to my daughter, Trinity College Dublin has an “exam de-stress canine therapy” room. These animals of all shapes and sizes help students forget their exam troubles.

A pet is an addition to the family and should be treated with love and respect.

Most of all, it should be age-appropriate. I have seen parents being coaxed by a child to buy a pet — only to end up minding the pet when the novelty wears off.

A pet is not for a day or a week. It is for a lifetime.

Pets should also suit the owner’s temperament and lifestyle. I heard from a friend that a family acquired a big dog, but had no time for it and confined it to a small space.

Over time, the dog became restless and bit their child.

So, they had the dog put down. Now, whose fault was it?

Yes, nothing beats pawsitive living. While I’m still at it, I’m going to give my pet a day of pawsome pampering.

I might even consider treating my pet to a pet spa and a photoshoot if he behaves...

THIS ARTICLE WAS ORIGINALLY PRINTED IN THE NEW STRAITS TIMES 19 NOVEMBER 2017

https://www.nst.com.my/opinion/columnists/2017/11/304820/pet-ownership-benefits-pawsitive-living

SURVIVING OPHELIA

October 16^th was a very significant day for Ireland as the world watched hurricane Ophelia lash its fury on the island in an unprecedented manner. It was the most severe weather event to hit the country in over 50 years. Schools were closed and public transport services disrupted. More than 300,000 properties were without power and three people lost their lives.

A status red warning was in place and I stayed indoors as advised by Met Eireann (the Irish National Meteorological Service) and watched the storm spiraling on the cold horizon with the wind unleashing a torrent of its own. The trees were in a mad dance and leaves were flying like a pack of cards leaving behind a tangled mess.

I thought about the structure of the storm. I remembered there was an eerie silence before the storm set loose its full magnitude. I thought about the eye of the storm where there was calm and I thought about the intensity and duration of the storm.

From afar, behind the century old brick walls of my house I felt safe. I was inside looking out.

What if it was the other way round - outside looking in.

I thought about the times when there were raging storms within us and  others looking on  had no clue about the private storms of pain, disillusionment, disappointment and betrayal.

These storms can last last for days, months, years and generations even. Hurts that are not dealt with become fossilized over time. Think layer and layer of hurt piled up like sedimentary rocks that are formed by the deposition and subsequent cementation of material.

That is the eerie calm before the storm.

When we were warned about the scale of Ophelia I immediately took into the house, garden ornaments and smaller potted plants that  I thought would be smashed to smithereens if left outside. Hachi, my labrador stayed in the whole day too and he was most pleased.

I feared for my greenhouse. Friends told me that their greenhouses flew like flying saucers in the last storm, not half as forceful as Ophelia. I searched the internet for measures to minimise breakage and every website pointed me to the importance of the foundation of the house - how it was laid and how the house was anchored.

There are no methods set in stone to overcome the storms of our lives because we are all individuals and every storm is different. Just like protecting garden ornaments and smaller pots, we can brace for impact by doing what we can for ourselves and others. It helps to have a firm foundation - a bedrock of beliefs and values to remind ourselves that we matter and this too will pass. That is the eye of the storm. A place of solace and strength amidst it all.

There was great sunshine the day after, as if nature was compensating for the terror that it had inflicted on all and sundry the day before. I looked into my garden from my bedroom window.

The two towering trees were almost skeletal. The grass was littered with red and brown leaves which would make a neat pile for me to jump in. There was no necessity to deadhead the dahlias and mini roses because the winds had stripped the bushes bare.

I smiled when I saw that the greenhouse was still intact.

When I opened the door to embrace the new day, many neighbours had the same idea, united by the feeling that we were the survivors of the Apocalypse.

‘Hi John, Hi Pat, Hi Anthony’ I greeted them.

‘Hi Soo’, they replied in unison.

‘Terrible storm yesterday’, I said.

‘Tis ya’, they said and rolled their eyes.

Thank God it’s over.

THIS ARTICLE WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE NEW STRAITS TIMES MALAYSIA ON 5 NOVEMBER 2017.  http://digital.nstp.com.my/nst/books/nstnews/2017/20171105nstnews/index.html#/19/