Can a pet help me when I am having a bad day?

Yes! Research shows that regular contact with pets benefits a person’s overall health by reducing heart rate, blood pressure, and levels of stress. Pets offer stability, comfort, security, affection, and intimacy. They teach children how to care for others, and they help teach children responsibility as they feed them and tend to their daily needs. In addition, studies show that playing with pets helps people feel happy and may contribute to fewer feelings of loneliness and depression. The whole family can bond around an animal as they share the tasks of walking, feeding, grooming, and interacting with a household pet.