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According to a recent American Kennel Club study, 8 in 10 dog owners consider pets "family." The single woman can now select her mate online by visiting dating sites such as the Dog Channel Exclusives. According to Dog Fancy magazine, a British survey found that 25 percent of dog owners would choose a pet over their mate if forced to make a choicewhich explains the popularity of the pillow that is seen in many homes that states "We are staying together for the sake of the dog."
Women appreciate the role that pets play in family relationships. When a young couple does not have children, they frequently get a pet. We hear many stories of women who nurture their pets and soon the women become pregnant. Other women give in to the pleas of their children to add a pet to the family. The pet can help teach older children how to be responsible with daily tasks and to have compassion for others. Once children are grown and leave home, women acquire pets to fill the void. When a woman is married to a man that she loves but who does not provide recreational or social outlets, she may acquire pets to fill those needs.
The psychological relationship between the physical health of women and their pets can be witnessed when women are walking their dogs.
It is not unusual today to see mature and even elderly women in the show ring. Their interaction with others outside their home towns and traveling to different locations seems to make them emotionally and physically healthier than those women with more sedentary, isolated lifestyles. It seems as though when their dog is nearby, women feel less stress and fare better than even when a friend is nearby so competition remains fun.
According to a study in Germany, the health and eating habits of women can be mirrored in their cats. Three times more women who owned overweight cats revealed that they did not feel very happy before acquiring a cat as compared to the number of owners of normal weight cats. The women who owned the overweight cats acquired the cat to console and encourage them and as a result had a closer relationship. These women tended to treat these cats as humans and even substitute the cats for human companions. By using food as a way of communicating with their cats, the cats became overweight.*
There is a psychological relationship between the emotional health of women and their pets. Women do not always live close to their families. Their pet tends to be the anchor of support when family members are not available.
When women are in a crisis situation, their pets can be their only source of comfort and affection. In the case of battered women, those women with pets delay going to a shelter because of their concern for the animals welfare. Not all shelters accept pets and in many cases, the women cannot afford to fund outside care for the pet in a safe place. When a woman has to abandon the pet under these conditions, it puts her under additional emotional stress.
