How Does Having A Pet Reduce Stress?
Video – VLog #23
Can a pet help stress and does that help people keep stress at bay?
Did you know that 40% of the UK populaton have a pet?
Pets need exercise so do YOU? How are you exercising?
Script – VLog #23
David Logan: Hi and welcome to another week of videos, the Techno Dinosaur Meets the IT Geek. My name is David Logan, I’m based here in Annan, Southwest Scotland. With me today to discuss today’s topic is Willie Nicol. So Willie where are you and how are you?
Willie Nicol: David, I’m very well, thanks. I am the Techno Dinosaur, and in my spare time I’m also a life coach. I’m based in Troon, south Ayrshire Scotland.
David Logan: Great, I forgot to say, out of the pair of us I am the IT Geek.
David Logan: This week Willie – question for you. I see a lot of friends and family, maybe more so lonely, having pets, dogs, go out walking dogs. Does that help stress does that help people keep stress at bay?
Willie Nicol: That’s an interesting question, David, and a very short answer. Yes, I did a bit of research before I came on today. It turns out that 40 percent of the population in the UK has a pet of some description.
Willie Nicol: Forty percent of the UK population own pets. A survey showed that 90 percent of those pet owners felt that their pets gave them a better quality of life and helped them with their stress and anxiety. We’ve talked a lot about stress and anxiety. So what can a pet do for you? Another thing we’ve talked a lot about is exercise. And if you have a dog, for example, you take the dog out for a walk. And that gives you and the dog exercise and there’s no way around it because dogs need exercise. Cats, perhaps not so much, and I probably going to focus more on dogs and cats and primarily dogs. So the short answer is yes, they can help with stress and anxiety. You can exercise, we’ve discussed this before. That exercise is good for you. Another thing they found is that when you stroke your pet, pat your pet it has a physiological effect. Actually reduces your blood pressure because you’ve seen people sitting there like Blofield in the Bond film stroking your cat. And that’s meant to be therapeutic because the very action of stroking your cat or your dog can make you feel more relaxed and lowers your blood pressure. Another aspect is that when you’re walking your dog, you’re being more sociable. Your meeting more people, and I know from experience that when you’re walking your dog – you meet other dog walkers, dog owners. You generally say, “Hi”. or even stop for a chat and you pat their dog and they pat your dog. So that is that sociability. And as you alluded to earlier, there’s the companionship that a pet give you and not necessarily a dog or a cat. You can have a goldfish, you can have a budgie – something to distract you from all the noise in your head. And if you live on your own, that animal may be the only person you talk to. And I know people, I did it myself, you talk to your animals.
David Logan: Do animals talk back?
Willie Nicol: I’m not Dr. Doolittle. Well, they don’t talk back, but in a kind of way they do, because dogs and cats have expressions. Maybe other pets do. You can tell whether or not happy, give me a bone, take me for a walk. Stroke me whatever it is and obviously they’re not human, but you can have a high degree of interaction with your pet. If you want, you can even tell me your troubles, because they won’t judge you, they won’t answer you back. And once you’ve done that, you think, OK, I feel a bit better. That may sound a bit goofy, but I can guarantee you some people will also be watching this, thinking, you know what? You’re right. So I’m just going to refer to my notes because I want to cover some points i want to bring up.
Willie Nicol: Pets, particularly cats and dog – they can get anxious, I suppose. We’ve heard of that, but they tend to live in the moment. All they are worried about is, am I being taken for a walk? Am I getting a treat? Are you going to play with my favourite ball? Are you going to throw me a toy? That’s all. They don’t worry about all the things we worry about. And while you’re engaging with your pet in – that manner – playing with it, throwing that ball, you forget about all the other stuff that’s bothering you. So just by the very act of playing with your pet you can be in the moment and we’ve talked about mindfulness, we’ve talked about meditation. You can be in the moment and even temporarily forget about what annoyed you. So the short answer to your question is – owning a pet can be very beneficial, although I’ve made a caveat that they are a responsibility. You have to look after them. You have to feed them, you have to do all sorts of things for them, so there is a trade off, but on balance and having owned a pet myself, I would see the benefits far outweigh any responsibilities or disadvantages. And for all the reasons I’ve enumerated there, they are a good thing for reducing stress and increasing your quality of life.
David Logan: Good. Do you think they can read body language?
Willie Nicol: That, again, is a very good point. There is a school of thought that dogs and cats can read your body language, they will know when you’re angry, even though you don’t shout at them, they will know if your tense, they will know if you’re upset. I had a little dog when I wasn’t feeling too clever, it would just jump on my lap and look at me. Knowing that something wasn’t right with me and doing the only thing the wee guy could do, which was say “Hi, I am here”, and you know, just that very act was briliant, because you will forget about being cut in the motorway by some idiot in a car or the fact that some something else bad had happened because the dog doesn’t know any better and your cat doesn’t know any better. Right. They can sense when your not quite at yourself and sometimes they do take upon themselves to help you out, even though you’re not aware of it. And again, some people might think he’s talking a lot of nonsense, but I can guarantee again, that pet owners will say, you know what, I’ve experienced that, too. So don’t dismiss the fact that your pets are just pets. They are a lot more than that.
David Logan: Fantastic, great Willie. That’s us for this week, up to time for our allotted time.
David Logan: Thanks very much for all of the information and your research Willie. To the viewer we would like to hear your feedback. Do you have a pet? How does that affect you?
David Logan: If not, why not? I don’t have a pet in case anybody asked me because it came back to me. So to the viewer, thank you for listening. If you have any questions add in the comments down below. We’re still looking for more subscribers, more likes on our social media channels, YouTube, subscribe down here and then ask for notifications. Facebook page, please, like it all the URLs, the website addresses, URL addresses will be down below here on the YouTube channel, we’re on Twitter, we’ve got our own LinkedIn page, please, please spread the word, share it out to people we are helping them. We try to be fun and educational. So thank you once again Willie for your time. I’m going to say goodbye here. Bye from me David Logan, you’re IT Geek who keeps it simple and short. Thank you. Have a great weekend.
Willie Nicol: Thanks David. Yes, it’s goodbye from me, Willie Nicol, the Techno Dinoasuar, AKA, the life coach, and if you are struggling with stress and anxiety, you don’t have to buy a pet, although that may be the best thing for you. Why not reach out to me or David and perhaps we can help you. So stay safe. Keep well and have a great week. Goodbye.
