A study shows 45% of respondents were made "significantly miserable" by their pets. Doggone it!
The common wisdom is that pets, particularly dogs, are good for you. Leading anthrozoologist Hal Herzog has taken a lot of heat for pointing out that you have an excellent chance of being physically injured by a pet. What about mental health? Surely, dogs, especially puppies, are good for your mental health, right? Rebecca Watson, AKA the Skepchick, looks at this question in her latest video, the Science of Puppies. It turns out the data in a recent study is… not great.
In "Development and validation of the puppy blues scale measuring temporary affective disturbance resembling baby blues," published last month in npj Mental Health Research, Finnish psychologists developed a scale to accurately measure how miserable people are after they get a puppy. Then they applied that scale to around 2,000 people who had dogs that were at one point puppies. I mean, presumably all dogs were at one point puppies, except the Xolo, which is born ancient, but in this case I mean the current owner was there to experience their dog's puppyhood.
They found that 45% of respondents were made significantly miserable by their puppy, with the most common effects being anxiety, frustration, and weariness (in that order of prevalence). Among that group, "20.3% reported that these feelings persisted for less than a month, 31.0% reported a duration of 1–5 months, 29.5% experienced feelings lasting from half a year to a year, and 19.3% reported that these feelings endured for over a year."
Skepchick
Watson related that her psychiatrist-prescribed puppy, who literally ate a door, undoubtedly caused the anxiety, frustration, and weariness addressed in the study. However, the responsibility of taking care of him kept her alive. I can completely relate. I adopted my first puppy when I was battling severe depression, and she was perfect. There was only one accident in the house and only ate one thing. Unfortunately, the thing was a check, which has yet to be replaced to this day, but still, good puppy. She was, and still is, a source of pure joy. Unfortunately, she set me up for a rude awakening when I adopted a friend for her the following year, a six- or seven-month-old puppy who appeared to have never lived in a house before. He took years – years – to be fully housebroken, and to this day, his big sister still sometimes has to tell me that he has to go out. It was exhausting and frustrating, but despite all that, his overall effect on my life has been overwhelmingly positive, and I wouldn't give him up for anything.
Perhaps this information is a reminder that there are plenty of older dogs out there looking for forever homes. It was not my intention to get a puppy either time, as a matter of fact. When a dog chooses you, they choose you. Completely unrelated, machine-washable rugs exist, and I highly recommend them.
