5 reasons college students need dogs

Becoming a college student serves as an intermediate stage between childhood and adulthood. College students don’t yet face all the responsibilities of adulthood but are beginning to comprehend what awaits them.

Consequently, college students experience stress.

While attending college or university, students face a change of environment and social circle. There comes a time when:

• Control and influence of parents is weakened;
• There is a need to take care of yourself on your own;
• Meeting new people requires you to build relationships from scratch.

In addition, college students experience a sharp increase in their study loads. They have to study larger amounts of information than in high school. In addition, preparing for exams and writing papers can add stress.

Many students also have to combine studying with paying college costs, rent, and other living expenses. 

Most people experience more stress when they have less time. Stress needs to be identified and dealt with. Using a service like PaperHelp, where professional writers can quickly help with assignments of any complexity in a short time, can give you back time.

But what about coping with other stress factors? The answer is simple.

Get a dog.

Why?

1. Dogs help improve your confidence

One of the causes of stress is a lack of self-confidence when meeting new people. There are several ways to correct classroom confidence problems, but this requires stable mental health.

Confidence grows out of feelings of support and love. Dogs give unconditional love every day because it is in their nature.

Having a dog creates feelings of security and calmness, which helps reduce stress. Taking care of a dog helps students build confidence.

2. Dogs help prevent loneliness

After they move away from their families and school friends, adjusting to living in a new city can be difficult. It takes time to build new relationships with classmates. But even with new friends, a person can feel lonely.

Your dog will always be a faithful companion. Pets easily understand their owners’ habits and emotional markers and adapt to help their people in any way they can.

In addition, dogs greet their owners when they return home after a hard day at college. There is no better feeling than knowing that someone is waiting in an empty rented apartment or room on campus.

3. Dogs help you adjust to urban life

For many college students, moving to a big city can be a major stressor. We recommend that students review the guide 7 ways to get used to urban life and suggest getting a dog.

Dogs need daily walks (which also helps college students get regular exercise). Walking the dog helps the student learn about their new homes by exploring nearby parks and walking trails. Walks also provide a great opportunity to make friends with other dog lovers.

Students typically can train their dogs, but sometimes they need help from professionals. Working with a dog trainer or attending training classes also can help students adjust to living in a new city.

4. Dogs teach responsibility

Dogs are like children. They are completely dependent on their owners. Dogs need to be fed, walked, taught commands, and trained. It also is necessary to create a daily routine and follow it so your dog doesn’t feel deprived or neglected, and students have time for themselves.

Having a dog also teaches financial responsibility. Students need to budget money for their dog’s medical needs, food, toys, and dog trainers, dog walkers, or dog sitters as needed.

Learning to set a budget and save money will help students prepare for the rest of their lives.

5. Getting a dog can save at least two lives

First, adopting a dog from a shelter saves that dog’s life.

Approximately 3 million dogs are admitted to shelters every year; more than 600,000 of them are euthanized. Thanks to the people who adopt pets from shelters, those numbers are constantly dropping.

Sometimes people decide to return a dog to the shelter (which happened in New York during the pandemic). These dogs have less chance of being adopted a second time.

Dogs help college students

Dogs will always be there, offering their owners silent (or not so) support even on the darkest days. Having a dog helps improve a college student’s mental health, reduces stress and symptoms of depression. In addition, dogs can help protect their owners from dangerous people on the street and their homes from burglars. 

Remember, no matter what breed the dog is, it will be faithful to its person for the rest of the dog’s life.

While getting a dog increases your responsibilities, the benefits of owning one far outweigh the demands on your time. Getting a dog gives its owner confidence and love, helps the owner adjust to living in a new place, improves their mental health, and teaches responsibility.

Is it better to have two dogs?