my daughter is depressed alot of the time gets very upset over anything. she is very emotional. she gets that wonderful trait from dear old mom. working on it though. anyhow we have 2 dogs. and our therapist suggested that when she should get time outs to include a dog. tell her to sit and pet the dog not play mind you just calmly sit and pet and talk to her dog. she loved the idea. it seems to help. strange as it may sound at least for me that is. i started letting her sleep with her when she was a puppy. it never dawned on me to use scooby to help her. i’ve let her go around the block with her instead of making her sit for time outs. when she gets back she is her old self again. if she gets mad or irritated with her sisters she’ll ask can i take scooby for a walk. rather than fight with them i jump on the oppurtunity to give her a little space it seems to really do the trick. they have a bond like no other. she doesn’t have many friends. she tells me how lonely she is and that makes me sad. but since i started to use the dog more with her she doesn’t seem as lonely. mind you a dog might not always be the answer but when there is no other option i do what i can. she says at least she has her. and she loves her no matter what. a pets love is like ours unconditional. and you can’t beat that for nothing. she does have a few friends but their not always available.so i have been telling her to play with scooby she doesn’t always want to. but when she does she seems calmer. has anyone else tried this out let me know i’m curious to get feedback on this idea. it seems to work for us i was wondering if it works for anyone else.
thanx alicef
Re: pets
My son has a snake. When he is overwhelmed he goes into his room and pulls the snake out. He let’s it move all over his hand and body. Instead of petting it,it pets him. This also has a great calming effect. I am all for pets.
What a great post. I think many people everywhere are realizing the calming effect pets have on all of us. Many nursing homes now have pets and even hospitals are letting animals back in to help young patients.
My own son with LD is very bonded to his dog and takes the dog everywhere. I know the dog plays a big role in helping him get through each day and to tell the truth, the dog helps me too. Dogs do offer us an unconditional love and there’s nothing wrong with a little of that.
Thanks for the great post.