‘It was a long day at work. My incomplete To-do list got me thinking on my drive back home. I leaned against the window in exhaustion. When my car took a familiar turn, there was a sudden sense of joy inside of me. As I stepped into my home, I smiled wide as I saw this wet-nosed, silly, tail-wagging, furry creation looking at me in excitement. There he was, Tootsie; my pet pug who simply knew how to make my world a better place’, shares Nivetha Raj who is specialised in Counseling Psychology and an EQ coach. In this blog, Nivetha shares how having pets at home help nurture a child’s EQ in the most simplest and meaningful ways.

I strongly believe in the saying “until one has loved a pet, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened”. Growing up in the USA, I recall my days in elementary school where every classroom had a pet. It was our responsibility to ensure our pets were safe and sound. We fell in love with some of the friendliest pet’s right from hamsters, guinea pigs, puppies, ducks, and rabbits to butterflies, goldfish, and bluebirds. We used to take turns in feeding them, cleaning their homes, taking them outdoors (except the fish of course), helping the vet, and playing with them. These pets were more than just cute, interactions with them made us happy, relaxed and some of us even spent most of our time talking to them. They showed us what unconditional love was all about and made us smile even when we didn’t do well on our math test.

Almost every family owned a pet. They actually kept the families together. You didn’t have to hunt for pet-friendly places, they were welcome everywhere! Most families believe that raising a child alongside a pet paves way for positive upbringing as they symbolise love, care, and companionship. That’s why American families usually adopt a pet when they have a newborn baby at home.

In working with young children with different abilities, I realised that most of them carried positive memories often related to their pet. Pets serve as a huge motivation, making therapy both fun and rewarding for children with a wide range of challenges, including down syndrome, learning disabilities, ADHD, and autism.

When the child grows up alongside a pet, the experience is endless.They learn to be kind and compassionate, understand responsibility, express themselves, develop social skills, comprehend tough life lessons and carry a high self-esteem. Pets have a way of making a child’s world colourful, meaningful, and complete. They can be invaluable in teaching children emotional intelligence or EQ – a measure of empathy and the ability to connect with others. And what better way to nurture EQ than with a lovely pet who is a gift to the whole family.