Читать книгу The Dog Owner's Handbook - Graham Meadows - Страница 18

These days pet animals are one of the many factors that make up what we call ’quality of life’. During the last 20 years, numerous studies have confirmed the psychological and medical benefits of pet ownership. These benefits have also become a basis for programmes based on animal-assisted activities (AAA), also referred to as ’pet-facilitated therapy’ and ’animal-facilitated therapy’. In these programmes, interactions with animals are used to assist humans with physical or psychological problems.

In industrialised societies increasing affluence, a falling birth rate and looser family ties have resulted in pets playing a more important psychological role. More couples are choosing not to have any children, or to have them later in life after the female partner has established a career, and for many of these people a pet becomes an important member of the family. But regardless of your family status, owning a dog is likely to provide you with some important benefits.