Can dogs help cure loneliness?

The feeling of loneliness is something that most people will experience at some point in their lives.

The latest research from the ONS reveals around a quarter (27%) of adults reported they felt lonely always, often or some of the time. Loneliness Awareness Week aims to raise awareness of loneliness and empower people to make connections.

How can spending time with dogs lessen the feeling of loneliness?

A dog can be a great source of comfort and motivation for those suffering from loneliness, here are just some of the reasons why:

• Companionship – Dogs offer someone to spend the day with and caring for them gives a sense of purpose, often making you feel wanted and needed. This is especially the case for people who live alone or who are in the later stages of life.
• Physical activity – Dogs, even the smallest of breeds, often require daily walks
• New connections – Caring for a dog provides the opportunity to meet other like-minded dog lovers. Dog owners and dog lovers often stop and chat when out on walks, these connections can help combat the feelings of loneliness. Plus, companies like Barking Mad arrange regular ‘meet-ups’ for their host families, so they can connect over their love of dogs with coffee and cake.

Although dogs can help with the symptoms of loneliness, not everyone suffering from loneliness can commit to being a dog owner; however, the team at Barking Mad have a solution! Barking Mad Hosts get to enjoy the companionship of a dog without the financial or emotional commitment of being a dog owner.

Hear from Host Jane here on why she loves spending time with lovely dogs

Barking Mad Host Sue said: “We’ve hosted for around eight years now and we’ve had every sort of dog from a Bernese Mountain down to the tiniest Yorkies. It has really helped us as we came into a new neighborhood, and we now talk to lots of different people with dogs and we’ve been able to integrate into the estate which is lovely.

I think the advantages of this are that it gets you out walking, and you thoroughly enjoy having the dog there, it’s such good fun. I don’t think we’ve ever had one that we’ve disliked, but how can you dislike a dog, really. We’ve thoroughly enjoyed it and so I would say to anyone who’s looking at it to give it a try. See how you feel because I think you’ll enjoy it!”

If you miss having a dog in your life, then why not sign up to be a Barking Mad host today, simply enter a few details here and your local branch manager will be in touch.

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