Dogs Make Us Feel Vital

(Air Force Photo by Laura Mowry)

Dogs Make Us Feel Vital
We all have a fundamental need to feel capable. We must know that there are important things that need to be done and that we can do them. Providing for a dog is a tangible reminder of what we can do,
and what we must do, to care for another.
LENORE IS EIGHTY-FIVE years old. She’s been a widow for more than two decades. And yet she bounds out of the house each day with a smile.
Her neighbors, less than half her age, marvel at her energy. Lenore gives a lot of the credit to Socrates, who is the reason she’s up and out as early as she is. Lenore says that Socrates, a Norwich terrier, is
“not afraid to nudge you when he thinks it’s time to go out. Sometimes I wonder if he’s part rooster.”
Still, Lenore says, “Socrates is the treasure of my life.” Lenore values not just the companionship of Socrates but also the
sense of purpose he helps provide. “Caring for someone—two-legged or four-legged—is a natural part of life,” she says. “It makes you feel needed.”

When Lenore was talking about getting a dog, her children tried to talk her out it. “They suggested I might be too old to get a dog. But I think I might be too old not to have one.”

Middle-aged women who owned a dog were 10 percent less likely to define their abilities by their age. (Downey 2002)