Companion Animals & Mental Health

fences so if you weren't able to catch

that you can check us out on the link

below we're gonna we'll connect that

today or the second video here we're

going to talk about companion animals

and mental health it's more than just a

family member thing let me explain

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hello everybody I'm Rob this is everyday

Heroes we are using this today for our

videos this is the series that covers

all things educational and informational

but we always have fun doing it because

you gotta have some fun now today we're

going to go over something that we've

talked about another series that we've

done running your mental health as well

as Ultra University live

um and of course we're going to do it

again but because it's a special episode

like this I needed that special person

to help me out and that special person

I call mom

um and good you got your dog back there

too so that's even better right now my

cat's in the other room so she's like I

don't I don't want to be

she she's out okay so I pulled from two

very different but very good articles to

use to help

um so obviously this is talking about

past the family bond we know that

animals are More Than Just Pets they are

the fur babies they are grandchildren

you know they are you know whatever

um but and we've talked about this

mental health idea on our other shows

having a source of help whether it be

pets or other is a

semi-easy way to go now what's featuring

about this first article from mental

health.org it's a United Kingdom company

they actually talk about what you can do

with or without if for some reason

you're unable to have one in your home

but the first thing they went off with

is how does that help how does a pet

help mental health well similar to you

know I know you take yours out for a

walk

it can help in that form so the first

thing they say is physical activity

right a big problem in America now is

stuff like obesity and diabetes in

people so why not give yourself a reason

to go take a walk take a run then do it

with your dog or your cat I always tell

the story when I was working in the mall

a lady walked her cat through the mall

on a leash and he just chilled there he

plopped down on this on the floor and I

love it I love it that's the cut I love

it amazing I thought it was great hey

Chris I know Chris who just put a

comment in from Belgium hey Chris good

to see you she's a volunteer for a cat

shelter here Chris is also another live

streamer like we are so

hey well there you go thanks for uh

joining the crew here that's awesome

um so yeah so number one physical

activity uh you can do it outside we

talked about the other day doing yoga

with your dog people do you have they

call it Doga it's literally dog yoga

um but you know and we laugh but it's

true number two companionship now a lot

of times let's say you are living alone

or let's say your family members are

farther away having a animal with you or

another family member I always want to

make sure to call family members because

they

you know they are but having

companionship is very important now we

know especially for older community a

lot of times in um

retirement homes they'll have dogs and

cats come to visit the the people right

and why do they do that well it's just

it makes them happy feel good it's feel

good exactly and what do you want to do

when you're not feeling well you want to

get something happy so why not pet a dog

um I forgot what it was I think there's

one in LA and there's a golden retriever

that goes and he's very famous there and

everybody loves seeing this dog and

every time they know it's whatever day

it is they just get so pumped because

the dog is coming and that's just that's

the best part of their week it's fun and

there's a commercial that's running

right now um it's I think at a

children's hospital and there's this

little kid that's in the bed and he's

obviously having so many treatments and

he looks up and he says

oh I don't I don't want to I don't want

to and the the doctor says well you know

we we're going to try something new

today and in comes this oh my gosh then

I just went oh I think it's a pedigree

it's a pedigree commercial so it's right

right right right right but I love that

commercial that is a great example uh

yeah exactly use you know number three

reducing anxiety so you have it I have

it many people do

um there's a great it's a video and I'm

not sure how they set this up but it's a

lady who is having a panic attack and

she videoed what her dog does to

basically calm her and he literally

jumps on her chest and he kind of like

puts his paw on her shoulder and she

slowly comes out of this panic attack

and now granted this dog was obviously

trained and we're going to talk about

that in a minute but the fact that you

can have an animal come to your lap put

your head you know head on there or or

for cat people for the cat shelter

having a cat come jump on your lap yeah

that's the idea of having it go and I

think and I think we've talked about it

uh it can lower your blood pressure by

just petting an animal for I think maybe

five or ten minutes it doesn't take very

long but you pet and your whole entire

body just kind of ah so I I agree I mean

I can sit there and my dog as you can

see is very small

um and and he'll sit next to me and I

will just stroke him almost

absent-mindedly I'm not even like

thinking about it really I'm just doing

it and it's just an immediate sense of

ah exactly exactly now the next one down

here is boosting self-confidence now

this is great for people who have autism

possibly or sensory disorders there you

go she said her cat sleeps on her who's

cat well ours doesn't only because of

our dogs but if she would I'm sure

um so those with sensory disorders like

you know like myself autism spectrum uh

animals can help you build your

self-confidence uh they say that if you

bring your dog out with you to the park

to your to your you know to school for

those schools that allow it

um it can allow the person to actually

learn how to uh socialize with fellow

students fellow peers of sort right

um we also and again with that meeting

new people and then of course adding

structure ADHD for somebody like me

having an animal that you have to feed

you have to get medicine at a certain

time especially ours because ours is on

a regimen of pills it's actually you

know think about it but it actually

keeps me structured along with my wife

to make sure that our dogs get what they

need

throughout the day we talked about this

I think yesterday was it yesterday gosh

the days just keep going we talked about

it how

um I take my dog out because if I didn't

he would let me know that he would you

know yes right and he comes right over

to me and he just sits there in his

Tails wagging and it's like are you

gonna take me you're gonna take me and

they take me it's like okay I'll take

you and it makes I I go out and I

immediately feel better

there you go now they do want to you

know caveat here and this is actually a

great thing to discuss as well

can you have a pet and obviously if

you're looking to use an animal for

companionship the first thing you want

to make sure now obviously this is for

your well-being but you have to make

sure that you can actually take care of

so a few things that they recommend

looking at how much outdoor space now

this is more so for a dog not

necessarily for a cat or a bunny

whatever but you have outdoor space many

times we're busy doing work you want to

have them be able to run around get

their crazies out you want to have some

sort of backyard how active are you now

we just said you know take him for a

walk to the dog park some dogs like to

go swimming how active are you going to

be to make sure that your dog cat or

whatever is gonna have enough time to

feel tired by the end of the day because

they say a tire dog he's a happy dog and

an entire dog makes happy Parents

exactly because you can then rest on the

couch and go thank God there's nothing

else to do

um how much time do you have to spend

now this is actually a very important

one too we get the luxury of working at

home so ours can roll around they can

come up here we can Bond do all that but

if you're going back out to your job if

you're on the road is a pet right for

you as far as time that he looked up as

I said that Christopher was like wait a

minute time comes spending what no so

trust me take it from the dog if you

don't have the time

he heard walk and that was it it was

like oh

now to go back to our morning video we

talked about how much money do you have

for the the care now we did go over some

expenses of how to cut costs to make it

easier but generally speaking you're

going to have vet bills food bills and

then of course the luxury items toys

beds what have you of course places like

where Chris works with the shelters they

all they sometimes do have uh donations

that you can get from them but usually

you got to make sure that you're going

to have a nice chunk I think it's about

60 70 of your total is going to go

towards your pet regularly now for us

you know we have a chronic dog it's more

than that because of his his things but

generally speaking right you know and

ask your shelter your shelter will know

how much money this particular pet is

going to uh take right now it's actually

great that Chris came on here because

they say what if you can't have your own

what if you're not going to well they

suggest one thing is going to a local

shelter Maybe sharing maybe spending

some time you know helping play with the

dogs walking the dogs you know

there you go I have the cat easier yeah

yeah it is what do you you know

sometimes you want to know who runs the

house though with cats cats are like I

own this house you I'm just letting you

stay here for a while

exactly but it's actually cool and I'm

not sure if Chris has ever seen this or

not at hers but you know volunteering at

a shelter that gives you that one-on-one

time to make you feel good you can also

go to like a vet clinic sometimes

they'll ask for some help in the back

um

there you know if your friends have pets

if your family has pets maybe you go

visit them you kind of get a two-for-one

right if you get to visit your family

right you also get to spend time with

the furry family members too so you know

if for some reason you're in an

apartment and this is usually for

apartment living for City living a lot

of places they're not very you know and

maybe a cat's fine maybe a fish is fine

but they're not very big on having large

animals because of the rules

now part two of this comes from Nami we

talk about Nami all the time because we

love them on our other show they go more

deep into the actual bond between a a

person and their furry child so to speak

they actually say the 67 of households

have a pet as of now that's about 85

million households uh in the United

States I'm curious

did that go up during the last couple of

years with the pandemic did more people

I believe so because I believe a few

years ago it was more like 50 40 so it's

definitely gone up

a good 20 almost since then

um in one study 60 of people have a

chronic mental health condition

considered pets to be as important as

their family the healing powers are

Indescribable so those it's one thing to

have a a fur baby as we call them

without a difficulty but those who have

a difficulty will automatically tell you

having a dog having a cat having a bunny

makes my life that much better necessity

it's a necessity it's a necessity so

what are the benefits so they break it

down it's shown to reduce stress as we

talked about depression and anxiety but

generally improves an overall quality of

your life pets provide a calm presence

and can divert negative thoughts and

then also promote exercise as we talked

about already uh caring for your pets

helps them commit to a routine you hear

it here all the time routine is like our

buzzword it should just be everywhere we

should say routine right that's your

body routine such as daily walking

creating a sense of purpose and a sense

of accomplishment

it can also facilitate social and

Community interactions and integration

right so again not a lot of you know

shocker news but for those who might not

realize how big it does we're here to

share the literature exactly that proves

now this part I love the types of

support now this is where you get into

the nitty-gritty so emotional support I

can actually talk about this ad nausea

mean because one of my dogs is now I

talked about this morning how we've

gotten a little bit lazy recently he's

kind of lost his you know train of

thought because we haven't been out much

but prior to the pandemic he kind of

taught himself my signs and my triggers

he will and even now he'll look at me

when I'm kind of in a mode and he'll

stare and he'll kind of watch and I look

back and go

I must be doing something

what's going on he has his vest now the

difference between emotional support and

others is you don't initially have to

have the paperwork for this what you do

want to have and I get it through my

therapist is a note saying this

ex-creature allows my my you know

patient to live life easier and better

with the following aspects and then you

just write it down but it's not just

dogs cats rabbits Birds hamsters and

horses are just some of the few that you

can use now a while back I talked about

horses being on it it actually got me

emotional because I used to ride and I I

know the feeling of a horse uh being it

but you can you literally you can tell

the animal will fit you well to be

emotionally supportive

um you must and again you must have the

prescription letter which is renewed

yearly from your therapist but really

that's as much as you need you don't

need to have to pay for work you don't

need to have the doable and under the

Fair Housing Act

98 of people can't say otherwise

they they must allow you to with that

paperwork allow you to bring in that

animal with you

and that that again is also more recent

than it used to be it used to be

different back so you know

I know that page so you're saying

because I'm this is all news to me so

you're saying having that that piece of

paper that referrals so to speak from

your your therapist allows you to take

your

um emotional support animal into a store

into a so so for instance for us when we

moved uh one of the things was that it

didn't count as one of the pets when we

moved because he was an emotional

support animal so the you know if the

home only allows two pets but you have

three and that third one is an emotional

support they really can't say anything

else because that's not considered a pet

that is considered a necessity as you

call it of life for you as far as

restaurants and stores there are the

limitations now for instance we had a um

God was lazy dog which is actually made

for dog people and you can bring your

dog to the outside portion not the

inside uh certain parts of malls

depending on where you go will allow you

to bring but only into certain areas of

what you're doing so emotional support

as nice as it is doesn't give you the

ability to do a lot it gives you the

ability to go to outdoor venues so any

parks any farmers markets for that

matter right and you're specifically

those saying those people who need that

emotional support dog because they're

uncomfortable in crowds or because

they're uncomfortable so I just want to

clarify that it's not just that you know

you have your emotion support dog and

everyone has one it's not it's for

people right now the confusing part is

that people who do take their pets out

and many places don't care but there are

certain areas that if you have the vest

on which which Skeeter does actually

have his vest you can go to certain

spaces not all spaces because he is a

little bit more than just you walking so

I'm curious Chris is in Belgium so um

Chris if you're still on right now I'm

curious do you have the same kind of

thing emotional support animals in

Belgium I'm curious I I don't know if

this is just truly an American thing or

is it really worldwide where we really

do understand that our pets can support

and help us just curious I don't know if

you're still on but if you are well it's

actually great that you said that

because the next one is the air carrier

access act that says Airlines must allow

emotional supports to accompany their

handlers in the cabin of the aircraft at

no additional cost interesting so I'm

actually curious to know what that is

because if you are flying with your pet

is the country you're going to or the

state you're going to also as open as

where you're coming from so that

actually is a very good question but if

you do have to fly and actually there's

jokes about it because somebody brought

their turkey on the plain ones somebody

brought a miniature pony on the plane

once and it was a bigger plane a snake

somebody brought a snake I think

somebody had a monkey on their shoulder

I mean you you it runs the gamut but you

know the fact that they a lot that they

can't say anything and will allow you to

at least come on that's a lot different

than it used to be before right and then

of course we ended with what I started

with the landlord and stuff like that

you know you have you obviously still

have to talk with the people but you

can't uh you know they usually can't say

so what do we have

um we have that also in schools and

police officers so schools I know are a

big thing here as well

um I think I might have talked about

that with you before but I know a lot of

schools will allow people with physical

or mental disabilities to bring their

dog uh seizure dogs are a big thing if

the student has a seizure disorder their

dog must be with them to make sure that

if the if the student is having an

attack the dog will

you know what we'll be there great

things to do right exactly now the next

part here is service dogs and this comes

under the Ada which we've also talked

about the American Disabilities Act this

one I'm going to shorten it to say a dog

that has been trained to perform tasks

that assist the individual with

disabilities and then it goes on to say

to detect the onset of a psychiatric

episode and lessen the effects that's

the short version of the verse in there

this is where you have to get the

paperwork guys so you and again I

thought I could do this with mine but no

you actually have to go out there you

have to get a diagnosis by a doctor

therapist psychiatrist whatever

um and you have to have the requirements

written down now to go back to your

question before can you go in with that

these are the animals that can go

anywhere with you if you want to go into

an Old Navy store if you want to go into

a restaurant

you can bring them in there and they

have a hundred percent no ability

to say anything

legally and they're they're they're

service animals versus emotional support

and I think there's a difference in the

name yeah and to calm students during

the exams oh my gosh I love that

so a good example of this one is canines

for warriors one of the biggest veteran

uh dog placements who places German

Shepherds labs and all that with Wounded

Warriors who come back from war that is

the example of a service animal that is

one that literally is trained and this

is the YouTube video I was talking about

that literally is trained to know when

something is happening this dog has gone

through multiple classes to become a

physical service dog now the last one on

their list is therapy animals now this

is where you get kind of fuzzy now the

best example here is called the good bar

and we have it up in Santa Clarita and

these are animals that were saved from

slaughterhouses saved from abusive homes

and they have turned into therapy

animals these include cows pigs

horses cows yes so so these animals that

were saved they're all mostly farm

animals right and they are they are now

they basically you get to live out their

lives on this this Farm in San accordia

and there's a bunch of them around the

country and these are therapy animals so

they will have people come in groups

with autism groups with depression

groups with PTSD and they basically let

you come and you just have you have time

with the animals whether it's brushing

whether it's writing whether it's

feeding and you get to go and you do

that so what's the difference then

between that and emotional support well

a therapy animal really generally isn't

used for any specific purpose other than

being with you so you can have you can

call your animal a therapy animal

and kind of get away with it because

there's no you're you're not you're not

using the dog for any specific purpose

other than making you feel good an

emotional support dog however does have

some paperwork and then obviously the

top tier goes back to the right right

the uh the the working dogs and the

working animals

so this is a lot of stuff we have the

links up there if you guys want to know

if anybody watching might need or might

be interested

check with your doctor or your therapist

they might have some resources to tell

you now regular doctors might not be the

go-to first because they may not be

trained in doing so but if you know a

therapist if you have a therapist

psychiatrist talk with them and see

that's how I did it I just brought in my

therapist one day I said hey

um we also oh children's Farms yes

that's that's cool

so one day I brought up my therapist I

just said hey out of the blue I have a

dog that you know fairly good with me

kind of sits by me doesn't say can I

make him some sort of therapy dog now

she kind of went down the line she said

if you want to make him a legitimate one

you have to go through all the things

all the sources but if you want to make

an emotional support dog I can give you

a letter I can write down what your your

difficulties are right and we can just

go from there and if anybody has a

problem they can call her you know her

directly and she'll talk to them she'll

say hey my patient has this this and

this and this is why he's using his dog

as a thing so you have different forms

of doing it guys if you guys want to

just if you if you can't have them but

you want to go visit go check out a farm

near you nearby go check out a reserve

there are a lot of places where you can

see wild animals you know there's I

think there's a wolf reserved by us that

basically takes in wolves that were used

to be pets

um wait wait wolves that used to be pets

well apparently apparently people were

legally keeping them and then they

realized they were too big and said oops

but they can't be let out because

they're too domestic right so they were

brought to the you know got it if you so

that's step one if you guys can't have

one go find a farm a children's Farm if

you have a kid a regular one for you

number two if you have a pet at home and

you're thinking hey maybe I want to take

my dog or my cat with me more often

check out emotional support and number

three if you really want to get hardcore

with it and make your dog a physical

working dog go for it I mean I'm still

kind of tempted because I feel like

Skeeter might have the ability he's you

know he's a little woohoo but he's smart

I think he can do it but I think the

fact that you have the option to do so

is very important I think it's a very

important topic we'll probably talk

about this again on my new mental health

I'm sure we'll bring it up again

um but what do you guys think I'm glad

that we got somebody who works with

animals on here you know she knows

firsthand the ability of having one and

working with them is obviously you have

Christopher we have our Menagerie here

um but what do you guys think I mean was

this a helpful conversation for you guys

would you guys like us to go more in

depth on this stuff let us know in the

comments thank you Chris for joining us

uh hopefully we'll get you joining us

again on our future shows

um and as always guys we appreciate the

love we've been getting a lot of

subscribers recently I just wanted to

shout you guys out thank you we

appreciate it it's really cool it shows

me that I'm doing something right so it

makes me feel good and I just like I

like the support so thank you so much if

you weren't able to pop on live though

however YouTube twitch and Twitter hit

that subscribe hit that Bell you want to

follow my mom just type in Karen Glasser

in Google and something will come up and

just click on that and I'm sure that'll

be her probably

um all right guys so we have a brand new

alternative live tomorrow afternoon if

you guys want to eat you're going to

want to stay tuned for that we also have

another Morning Show as well until then

have a wonderful day

um thank you so much as well we

appreciate we appreciate you as well

thank you so much have a wonderful day

as she says give someone a great day and

always stay curious