Kids love animals, and many express a desire to become a veterinarian or choose a career that involves working with animals. How do you encourage kids to make that dream a reality? A recent article in Popular Science offers some practical advice on supporting kids with...
School-age children have been experiencing high levels of stress in recent years. Stress can negatively affect learning and development in kids. A group of researchers in the UK were interested in how animal-assisted interventions (AAI) with therapy dogs could help alleviate stress in school children. The...
Getting your first pair of eyeglasses can be tough for a little kid. A Child's Eyes optical shop in Pennsylvania makes it easier with the help of a very chill glasses-wearing rescue cat named Truffles. Shop owner Danielle Crull has done an amazing job training Truffles...
National Dog Bite Prevention Week is an annual pet awareness event created to educate people about dog bites and how to prevent them. According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, there are 85 million dogs in the United States, with at least one in 38% of...
Pet Partners, a therapy animal non-profit that fosters human health and well-being through the human-animal bond, has created a new program that encourages young readers to practice reading with their pets. We Are All Ears is especially well-suited to this time of social isolation, when many...
The hardest part about sharing your life with a companion animal is when the time comes to say goodbye. The loss of a beloved pet is difficult for all pet parents. Luckily, there are some helpful support resources out there, including Ohio State University Veterinary...
Can therapy dogs help with the symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children? A study conducted by researchers at the University of California – Irvine School of Medicine has found that canine assisted intervention (CAI) can improve quality of life for children with...
Meet Gideon, a 9-year-old who shares pictures and brief stories of all the dogs that he’s met…and petted! This young dog lover started the I’ve Pet That Dog blog in 2016. He began posting on Twitter in April and already has over 90,000 followers! The format is...
Many studies have been done on the benefits of therapy and emotional support dogs for children with autism. A group of researchers wondered about the role of pet cats in helping children with autism. The findings of this study were published recently in the journal...
Several interesting studies of children with autism spectrum disorders have shown that when the kids play with guinea pigs in the classroom, they are more enthusiastic about attending school, show more interactive social behavior with other children, and display less anxiety. Children in the most recent study...
New research from the University of Missouri’s College of Veterinary Medicine has shown that autistic children who live with any kind of pet in the home are more assertive and social than autistic children with no pets. Gretchen Carlisle, a research fellow at the school’s Research...