Could Puppies Use Therapy?

Published June 28, 2011

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Puppies don't need therapy...do they? Sources at Time magazine have raked up some surprising statistics regarding pet psychology that most pet parents are probably not aware of.

According to one foreign report of note from Le Figaro, 10% of dogs are currently suffering from mental disorders, a number which parallels the percentage of humans suffering from mental disorders. Also similar to humans, the report goes on to say that 50% of canines are susceptible to suffering some sort of mental disorder at least once in their lifetime. Pretty surprising, right?

What may be even more surprising is the way that these conditions and anxieties are treated.

The report states that canines suffering from conditions are treated in a similar fashion to how children are treated--they will (if the option is presented to them) literally undergo a therapy session with a pet psychologist (a veterinarian) who spends about five minutes with the pet and 50 minutes with the pet parent, attempting to sift through the parent's distortion of their child's (their pet's) condition.

Who could have known?

What do you think? Is pet psychology something you've considered for your pet in the past? Let us know in a comment!

Ryan Karpusiewicz Ryan Karpusiewicz is the Assistant Editor, Lifestyle, for Digital Works @ NBC U, whose main…

Filed Under: Training & Behavior, News & Blogs, Behavior, News
Tags: Dogs, animal psychology, animal therapy, dog behavior, dog psychology, dog therapy

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