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Military families endure a lot of stress whether it’s with a deployment, PCS, TDY or other military challenges. It’s no wonder that some families choose to avoid any additional stressors, including owning a pet.

But the mental and physical health benefits a pet can provide may be well worth the extra consideration.

Here are 12 benefits of having a pet that you and your family might consider:

Pets can enhance the lives of military members and their families in so many ways.

Emotional Benefits
One of the greatest advantages a pet can provide is companionship. When a service member receives orders for a deployment or PCS, or community friends move away on orders, consistent companionship is hard to have. With a pet, children and spouses can maintain or bring a pet along with almost any order.

Some proven emotional benefits of a pet are:

• Reduced stress and less incidences of depression
• Increased happiness and well being after just 30 minutes with a dog
• Reduced feelings of loneliness
• Positive impact on children’s attitudes toward themselves and on their ability to relate to others
• In a study conducted by the American Society of Pediatrics, it was found that 30 percent of military children feel anxiety over the fear of being alone or fear in general. A pet cannot only provide companionship, but also a soundboard to share feelings with.
• Pets have also been cited to help in family reintegration efforts and studies are being done on how pets can decrease homecoming stress and even reduce symptoms of PTSD

Physical Benefits
Pets aren’t just a good addition to a friendship repertoire; they can also be the apple a day that prevents medical issues. For instance, having a pet in your life can help you:

• Lower cholesterol, blood pressure and triglyceride levels
• Increase physical activity; many service members and veterans say pets help them get out of the house and be more physically active as a walking buddy and a social catalyst
• Lower cardiovascular stress
• Improve recovery after a heart attack or stroke
• Lead to fewer annual doctor visits for the elderly
• Lower incidence or allergies and asthma for kids introduced to pets at an early age
• Use less medication and have fewer symptoms of illness

Living Conditions
Because of the inconsistent pet housing policy, some families opt out of a pet lifestyle, although most installations allow up to two dogs, two cats or one of each. In the instance of relocation, owners can choose to drive their pets across the country stopping at pet-friendly hotels or look into air travel arrangements.

I promise that it has been done before, it is not always easy (just look into Hawaii’s isolation period for pets), you can arrange to take your pet almost anywhere the military sends you. There are also options for military families to put their pet into foster care in the case that temporary assignments do not allow pet travel.

If you are still undecided, check out this Youtube video of a Gracie, the dog, welcoming home her deployed soldier!

Photo courtesy of Joint Base Lewis McChord

 Have a pet already? Share your experiences in the comments!

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