Mindfulness for Dogs

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It’s like entering a realm where you and your dog seamlessly understand each other, transcending ordinary communication barriers. of the total participants in the study, see Table 1) and stage 3 restrictions were imposed on rural Victorians 3 days later (10. As such, the timing of the study during the COVID-19 lockdown in Victoria, and the easing of these restrictions in the latter half of the study, may provide some understanding towards why a significant decrease in loneliness was recorded across the two time points. The non-significant group × time interaction in relation to loneliness is in line with findings by Oliva and Johnston [ 12] who found that frequency of dog interactions were unrelated to loneliness scores. It can even be punishing for our dogs: think about how it feels when you’re expecting something really good to happen and then it doesn’t.

Our dogs are very perceptive and if we use a cross tone of voice or our body language shifts, there is a strong possibility that they will notice. Percentages were calculated by dividing this number by the total number of participants who provided a response that week (minus those participants who provided a null response or a response that did not adequately address the question).

The mindfulness tasks were designed to encourage participants to become more attentive and engaged when interacting with their pets, and we hoped that this would translate to interactions outside of the 7 min meditations (e. While this isn’t part of any sort of meditation, looking at your dog interact with their surroundings can help you become far more mindful and in the moment with your dog, calm and discover things you didn’t know about them, like how they experience the world around them or what brings them pleasure. Only gradually will you be able to transfer the mindful relaxation that this brings to any type of stressful situation with your dog. They intuitively know that their anxiety will communicate to their dog making it even more likely that their dog will react, and this stresses the dog parent out still further. They were instructed to close their eyes and tap into this inner sense using their memory/imagination while mentally tracing an outline of their dog in their mind’s eye, using/imagining their hand, and connecting to any feelings of warmth if they were present.

The inclusion of a control group was an important strength of the study, as time effects are likely to be highly sensitive to an event such as a global pandemic. Darran is a pleasure to work with and he calmly teaches you how to build communication and a stronger relationship with your dog. If you’re having issues with your dog and are looking for Dog Training in Hamilton, Cambridge and the New Plymouth areas then Mindfulness4dogs can help. Perhaps one of the greatest psychological benefits of interacting with a dog is the opportunity it provides to be more mindful — to purposely focus your attention on the present moment.When your mind wanders — and it undoubtedly will — gently bring your attention back to the moment, including your dog's delight at being with you and outdoors. First, the individual interacts with their dog, due to the nature of these interactions the mind becomes one pointed and attentive towards its object of focus, the dog, thereby increasing the individual’s state of mindfulness, which in turn, reduces feelings of loneliness. This seems to be ever more the case with long working hours, the internet and smart phones leaving almost no time without constant stimulation. This highlights important differences between the individual tasks, and their relative effects on both owner and dog, in each group. Ensuring our dogs are comfortable and taking their emotions and health into consideration are great ways to help us work in harmony with our dogs and support them when they need it, rather than constantly fighting against these things and creating an unpleasant situation for both dog and handler.