Dogs are a Girls Best Friend

R esearch from  Flinders University has found that dogs, not diamonds are a girls best friend.

Researchers,  Dr Heather Fraser and Associate Professor Nik Taylor have started an online dog study called Whatisitaboutanimals which examines the experience people have with their animals and how they value their relationship with their dogs.

So far over 6000 people worldwide have visited the project’s website and hundreds of people sent in photos and stories, with the majority of participants being women.

Dr Fraser, a senior lecturer in social work, said the findings included dogs being a woman’s best friend, women falling in love with their pets, which they then form strong bonds of attachment with, and animals becoming a “soulmate” for their owners.

“Nik and I both have backgrounds in research of violence and abuse and we wanted to do something that was uplifting,” she said.

“What we found interesting was the romantic language being described for animals — ‘meant to be’, ‘made for each other’, ordinarily only heard when describing the love you have with a human.

“The cliche, dogs are a man’s best friend was also challenged, because when you think about it, the bulk of people looking after dogs are women through the animal rescue movement, looking after the dogs at home, so the woman’s connection to dogs has been overlooked in the past.”

In Australia, 63 per cent of households include a companion animal and the pet animal industry contributes about $4.7 billion to the economy each year.

Ass. Prof Taylor, of the School of Social and Policy Studies, said along with the research finding the strong connection people have with their pets, participants were very open to talking about the therapy their pet provided.

“We had a number of participants who struggled with depression and anxiety say they owed their recovery to their pet, their pet had pulled them through, provided them with someone to talk to and are the reason their depression and anxiety did not exist,” she said.

“One of the most surprising things we found was that people are becoming less inhibited with talking about the love they have for their pets.”

Dr Fraser and Ass. Prof Taylor will present their findings to the Australasian Animals Studies Association Conference in Melbourne this week.

To contribute or find our more about the project visit www.whatisitaboutanimals.com