How to Beat Stress Through Your Goldendoodle

It's a known fact that stress can cause heart attacks and many other health issues. While there are many ways to relieve stress, owning a Goldendoodle seems to be the best stress reliever. There's an old saying "you can always trust a person who has dog hair on them". I never really knew what that meant and to this day I still don't. Does this mean that people who own animals are better? happier? Have less stress? Nicer? Get along better with each other than those who don't have pet hair on them?

Researchers for many years have studied stress occurs, how it affects a persons' health and ways to relieve stress. Studies have shown that owning a pet can help relieve stress in our lives. Of course there are many things one can do to relieve stress but it seems owning a Goldendoodle can help relieve stress in more ways than one. Over the years Research has clearly shown that people who own pets of any type are less stressed than people who are non pet owners. Studies regarding stress have shown that those who have less stress in their lives, live longer and live healthier. Certainly this is an idea worth considering, especially when it comes to owning a Goldendoodle.

A new study conducted examined the cardiovascular reactivity when a person is exposed to psychological stress. This study researched 240 married couples. Of the 240 couples, half of them owned some sort of pet. The couples used for this research were exposed to various stressful situations which are considered to be mental arithmetic problems, and in a variety of social stressful situations. The couples were also studied when alone, with their pet and/or with a friend. The couples who did not own a pet had their friend or friends present. Other stressful situations were conducted to include being with their spouse, being without their spouse as well as being with their spouse and their friend at the same time. What the researchers concluded was that people who owned pets and had them in their lives, seemed to have a much lower rise in heart rate. Couples who did not own a pet, who were under the same produced conditions seemed to handle the stress factors completely different and were not able to handle the stress factors as well as the couples who did own a pet.

Years of research have shown that owning a pet, to include a Goldendoodle, has a huge healing affect in the lives of pet owners. Having a loving Goldendoodle or any sort of pet that you are fond of seems to have been an anecdotal for years. Many hospitals, retirement establishments as well as home centers for the mentally as well as physically challenged have been using Golden Retrievers for many years as a stress reliever for their residents. Goldendoodles have also been use since being available in the United States since 1997. Many other types of caring facilities for humans have used dogs and cats to help promote wellness among those who reside in their facilities for many years and have used various breeds. Such facilities can have high stress factors and it is a documented fact by therapists that pets of any kind can have a healing affect in a persons' life.

Goldendoodles have recently been introduced to this sort of "pet therapy" especially in facilities where children are involved. Because Goldendoodles can be very gentle, laid back dogs who enjoy being around people as well as enjoy as much attention as they can get, this lovely hybrid seems to be the perfect medicine to help relieve stress for many. A person can do their own experiment by observing how the people around them relate to their dog or cat. It has been my own observation from customer feed back, since 1999, that our Goldendoodles never fail to draw a crowd. Especially children. Levels of happiness seem to increase when people are able to pet a friendly dog and children definitely become excited when a Goldendoodle wants to play with them or give them a friendly lick on the hand. Certainly the Goldendoodle can help increase the amount of friends you have because it has been our experience that those who own our Goldendoodles, seem to meet new people nearly every day just by talking about their Goldendoodle when taking them out for walks, to the beach, to the lake, or out to their

neighborhood park. Increased friends can help make one happier if the person lived with fewer friends prior to buying their Goldendoodle. Our experience has also taught us that people who enjoy talking about their Goldendoodle, even with strangers, seem to be a happier person. A Goldendoodle can hold many jobs while living with their human friends. They can remind you to take frequent breaks if you are a workaholic who is on the move, non-stop. They can remind you to get off of your computer if you have been on it for hours! They can remind you to think of other things rather than your problems or personal issues and they can remind you to go outside and get some fresh air and to see the "light" in new and improved ways. Goldendoodles can remind one that they need to care for something other than themselves because a Goldendoodle loves and needs to be brushed quite frequently. Studies have shown, over the years, that a dog is a huge stress reliever!

A Goldendoodle owner can even do some observations of their own. Using your friends as the unknowing participants for their "experiment": Just check out the faces of those who enter your home. Watch how people around you seem to have a softer glow to their face when your Goldendoodle meets and greets them. It's as if just seeing your Goldendoodle makes them less stressed. While out and about on a walk with your Goldendoodle, you will also discover that even a person who is usually not interested in petting or speaking to the usual canine or cat when outdoors, seem to stop to pet or speak to your Goldendoodle. People seem to want to close the distance between them and your doodle! It is an amazing transformation to watch non-pet owners turn into a person who wants to suddenly know everything about your Goldendoodle. Many Goldendoodle owners who work outside the home and have a stressful day, have said that they feel more relaxed when coming home and having their Goldendoodle run up to greet them. After a bad day at work, the smiling face of any doodle can inturn, bring a smile to a face of a hard working person. After greeting and kissing the returning Goldendoodle owner, the doodle makes it quite hard to stay stressed from a difficult day on the job. When interacting with your Goldendoodle, you will find that you feel more content and you are able to NOT think so much of your stressful day. So my conclusion is that indeed, A Goldendoodle can help you beat stress every single day. It is safe to say that a Goldendoodle can help lower levels of stress that we find creeping into our lives on a daily basis. If you already own a Goldendoodle, you will more than likely agree with my conclusion.

Try and do your own experiement with friends, coworkers or even strangers. Ask them about their own pets and watch how they radiate good feelings when mentioning a story about their dog or cat. Even those who have lost a pet can recall fond memories of the days they shared and of the love they felt for their deceased pet. Most people enjoy talking about the pet they own and care for even if their pet has recently been ill or in need of special care or treatment.

AUTHOR/BREEDER: DEE GERRISH OF GOLDENDOODLE WORLD. @2007. http://www.goldendoodleworld.com

Source:
Cardiovascular Reactivity and the Presence of Pets,
Friends, and Spouses: The Truth About Cats and Dogs.
Karen Allen, PhD, Jim Blascovich, PhD and Wendy B. Mendes,
MS