The Pet Privilege: How Animals Help Children Thrive

As summer deepens, I delight as granddaughters Ava, 9, and Sara, 6, hug, kiss, feed and thoroughly love our canine family members. Our railed back deck on the marshlands and a large red ball provide the perfect summer spot for cavorting at sunset. 
“Can I help train Oakley?” Ava, nearly 9, followed me outside to the bayfront deck before I could answer. “Can I give her the treat after you tell her to bring back the ball?” 
She knew the drill and wanted to be part of it. I handed her a well-used plastic sandwich bag containing a bargain assortment of dog treats that will help Oakley to sit on command, fetch a ball when she hears me say “Get,” bring the ball to me when she hears me say “Bring” and deliver it to my waiting hand when she hears me say “Hand.” She gets this sequence correct most of the time of late, since we have practiced most days for 10 minutes.
I looked in the Baggie to see the treats on hand. I had learned from Marlene Nicewander, awarded breeder and Portuguese water dog agility and water skills trainer, that such high-value treats like cold, grilled chicken, go far to motivate the dog.
The bag was sadly lacking in high-value treats: stale Cheerios and tiny, hard dog protein treats were all I found. But they would do…Oakley plays fetch out of sheer delight. Learning the steps is the price of admission.
Sister Sara, 5, joins Ava. Together we form a tiny “treat army.” Oakley goes and fetches and first Ava, then Sara offer a treat. After Oakley is finished her turn, her Momma, Bliss, gets to play.
Bliss, at 8, is well trained but on this day loses interest in the tiny treats and game at hand.  We pack up for the day, pleased with our team work in training Oakley.
Sara and Ava have two cats at home. Ellie is soft and gray, outgoing and playful.  Rudy, lean and rust colored, is more discriminating, choosing his playmates according to his mood at any moment. They are devoted to the cats and to our mother-daughter Portuguese Water Dog team. Watching them snuggle with Bliss and Oakley, I ask if I might interview each of them briefly for my blog.
Both are delighted, sit politely at the dining room table at our beach cottage, and answer my questions:
When I asked what each likes best about owning cats and visiting our dogs, younger Sara, face animated as she spoke, gave three reasons. She stressed how colorful and cute and fuzzy they are. “I love Portuguese water dogs, and black is my fourth favorite color!”  Then she added, “I like the way they sound,” and “They sleep and don’t bother us.” In total, they add to her life and do not take much work.
Ava loves interacting with animals: “When my sister does not play with me, then I just play with the cats…I give them belly rubs and they like me for the rest of  the day….I play chase the string…they are like good buddies…and they feel like a member of the family. And I love the dogs: I get to snuggle with the doggies when a dog lays on me and feels soft.” But, turning philosophical, Ava reminded me that she feels good about giving both cats, which were in a shelter, a good home.
Both sisters were clear that they wanted pets as adults and wanted their children to grow up with pets. They summarized, “We feel happier because we have another buddy in the house.”
Although it makes intuitive sense that interacting with animals can help children grow successfully, I looked for a bit of research to illustrate their interview.
Ava and Sara highlighted many reasons given by other children in research quoted by the Austin, Texas Humane Society. Children said that living with pets makes them happier, helps them feel calmer, smarter, more caring, and offers them more responsibility. And, most children said that having pets has a positive effect on their schoolwork.
Furthermore, research from Miami University in Ohio and Saint Louis University confirms that people with pets enjoy more caring, more relaxation, and greater physical fitness.
As Ava knows, growing up around pets teaches children how to care for another creature and improves responsibility.
To consider: How might animal interaction enhance the lives and well-being of both the children and adults in your life? 
To read: National Geographic Kids 125 True Stories of Amazing Animals: Inspiring Tales of Animal Friendship & Four-Legged Heroes, Plus Crazy Animal Antics.  Kitson Jazynka, Allie Benjamin 
CORRECTION:
The  July 29 column made reference to the Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute at Columbia University, which is its correct name. 
Dr. Judith Coche trains therapy dogs who meet and greet clients at The Coche Center, a Practice in Clinical Psychology at Rittenhouse Square and Stone Harbor , New Jersey. Find her at www.cochecenter.com