Work stress upsets dogs
Dogs are stressed out by their owners' work-related anxiety, a study has shown.
Scientists asked 85 dog owners to fill in a survey on their stress levels at work and their pets' behaviour.
The owners were asked questions about their professional life including 'are you irritated by work issues' and how much they agree or disagree with the statement 'very few stressful things happen to me at work'.
They were also asked to report how often their dog exhibited 11 different behaviours, some of which are linked to stress, such as panting, having their tail between their legs, whining and leaning into people.
The researchers found a direct correlation between owners with more stressful jobs and their pet's stress levels.
'Our results do suggest that a person with a more stressful job is more likely to pass that stress on to their dog at home,' study author Dr Tanya Mitropoulos, of Radford University, told The Telegraph.
Around a quarter of those studied were healthcare workers and a third were high-level managers - both positions that the study found were particularly stressful.
Dr Mitropoulos found that of all the things that can stress a dog out, 13 per cent can be blamed on an owner's job.
'If you have two dog owners, the dog owner with higher stress has a 64 per cent chance of owning the dog that is more stressed,' she added.
The scientists found that one of the most problematic aspects of owner behaviour, which the dogs picked up on the most was taking the mental burden of a job home.
'Ruminating about work problems, meaning going over negative thoughts about work when you're at home, facilitated the transfer of job stress to the dog,' Dr Mitropoulos said.
'So cutting off work-related thoughts when you're at home should help prevent transferring your job stress to your dog.'
She advised checking work emails as little as possible and not working when at home, as well as making sure work and home were distinctly separated - both mentally and physically - for people who work from home.
'If possible, try to keep your workspace in a designated and remote area of the home so you're not seeing reminders of work while you're supposed to be relaxing,' she said.
'Practising mindfulness has been shown to reduce rumination, and there are now apps that guide people through mindfulness exercises, which you can do at the end of your workday.'
She said that the best way to relax for both owners and dogs is to play together at home after work.
'Playing with your dog is a great way to pull your thoughts away from work,' Dr Mitropoulos said.
'Plus, if your dog is stressed due to not receiving enough attention because you're busy mulling over work issues, playing with your pet is a great way to give him the attention he needs while also pulling your mind away from work.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
32 minutes ago
- The Independent
Meghan to speak as guest of honour at LA museum's Night of Wonder
The Duchess of Sussex will speak as the guest of honour at a museum's Night of Wonder in the US, as part of her work championing community wellbeing. Meghan will be joined by other high-profile guests at the Natural History Museum in Los Angeles, as the space is transformed into an enchanted nocturnal garden on June 14. The event will feature live music and installations representing local ecosystems and the LA landscape, and guests will be treated to a farm-to-table dinner that uses ingredients from the museum's nature gardens. The duchess's mission to advance community wellbeing and uplift young women 'dovetails with the museums' approach to connecting community and science by fostering meaningful educational experiences that empower young minds', the Office of Prince Harry and Meghan said. Among the programmes shared on the website of their charity, the Archewell Foundation, is The Welcome Project, where Meghan focuses on addressing 'the social isolation recently resettled women experience around the world and building more inclusive and connected communities'. The Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County (NHMLAC) hold one of the biggest and most valuable collections of natural and cultural history in the world, with more than 35 million objects. Their collections are used for ground-breaking scientific and historical research and in a range of community science programmes, including creating indoor-outdoor visitor experiences. NHMLAC's president and director Lori Bettison-Varga said: 'We are proud to honour Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, a native Angeleno, whose work to advance community wellbeing and expand opportunity, especially for underserved communities, aligns with our equity-focused approach to developing science literacy for the next generation, including through our Stem and Steam Pathways programmes.' Meghan and Harry, who celebrated their seventh wedding anniversary last month, live in the US with their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, after stepping away from the working monarchy.
The Independent
32 minutes ago
- The Independent
Los Angeles County will pay $2.7M to teen boy attacked in ‘gladiator fights' at detention facility
Los Angeles County on Monday agreed to pay $2.7 million to a teenager who was attacked by at least six other young people at a juvenile detention center in so-called 'gladiator fights' that were allegedly facilitated by probation officers. The boy's beating in 2023 at Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall was captured on surveillance video that also showed several officials standing idly by and some of them shaking hands with the participants in the beating. A state grand jury in March charged 30 correctional officers for their role in allowing and sometimes encouraging nearly 70 fights to take place between July and December 2023. The officers face charges including child endangerment and abuse, conspiracy, and battery. More than 140 victims between the ages of 12 and 18 were involved, according to authorities. Attorney General Rob Bonta said after the charges were announced that it seemed the attacks were planned. 'They often wanted them to happen at the beginning of the day, in a certain time, in a certain place. A space and a time was created for the fights, and the plan was for the fights to happen,' he said. The investigation began after the Los Angeles Times first obtained and published video footage that shows a then-16-year-old being attacked by at least six other young people, who came at him one by one as officers stand by watching. The video was first made public during a court hearing during which a public defender for the boy, now 17, argued to a judge that he was not safe at Los Padrinos and should be released ahead of his trial. His attorney, Jamal Tooson, said the settlement was a 'first step' in recognizing the 'egregious' conduct of the LA County Probation Department. 'Our priority needs to be not just protecting my client but all children in similar circumstances under the care and watch of the probation department,' Tooson said. 'There were lawsuits prior to this. I personally represent several individuals who've been harmed at the same facility after this.' According to a correction action plan written by the department, staff failed to review CCTV footage of the facility, delayed taking the teen to the hospital, and waited too long to notify his parents. To address these issues, the department will ensure CCTV monitors are 'staffed routinely' and conduct random footage audits, and develop a protocol for making sure young people in custody are given medical care and their parents are informed appropriately. A judge ruled in April that the LA County Probation Department could not continue housing juveniles at Los Padrinos and approved a plan in May to move more than 100 youths out of the facility. California 's state board overseeing local correctional facilities has previously ordered Los Padrinos to be shut down. Tooson believes there is a pervasive 'culture problem' extending throughout the probation department's facilities that cannot be addressed by the correction action plan. He has filed at least 19 lawsuits in federal court alleging issues from physical violence allowed by officials to sexual assault by staff members in LA County's youth detention centers, he said. 'Until we actively start changing the mindset and behavior of those who are put into a caretaking responsibility of these youth, I think we're going to find ourselves in the same situation,' he said.
Daily Mail
39 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Judge OVERRULES Trump and tells prisons to keep giving trans inmates their meds in blockbuster decision
A judge has ruled the federal Bureau of Prisons must provide hormone therapy to transgender inmates after Donald Trump signed an executive order halting all treatments. Trump issued the order within hours of his inauguration in January forcing the federal government to only recognize two genders - male and female - as well as, house transgender women in men's prisons and not fund gender-affirming care. Several transgender prisoners sued the administration to have their treatments resumed. US District Judge Royce Lamberth ruled on Tuesday that federal law prohibits prison officials from arbitrarily depriving inmates of medications and other lifestyle accommodations that the bureau's medical staff has deemed appropriate. The judge said the transgender inmates who sued to block Trump's executive order are trying to lessen the personal anguish caused by their gender dysphoria, the distress that a person feels because their assigned gender and gender identity don´t match. 'In light of the plaintiffs' largely personal motives for undergoing gender-affirming care, neither the BOP nor the Executive Order provides any serious explanation as to why the treatment modalities covered by the Executive Order or implementing memoranda should be handled differently than any other mental health intervention,' Lamberth said. Trump's order required the bureau to revise its medical care policies so that federal funds aren't spent 'for the purpose of conforming an inmate's appearance to that of the opposite sex.' There are approximately 1,500 federal prisoners who are transgender women and 750 transgender men, The New York Times reported. One of the plaintiffs, Alishea Kingdom, is a transgender woman who was prescribed hormone therapy injections and approved to receive social accommodations, including women's undergarments and cosmetics. Kingdom was denied her hormone shot three times after Trump signed his order, but she had it restored roughly a week after she sued. Her access to feminine undergarments hasn't been restored, according to the judge's ruling. 'In Ms. Kingdom's case, there is no indication at all that the BOP means to leave her hormone therapy in place long-term; indeed, as noted above, she was informed by BOP personnel that the decision to resume her treatment was a consequence of this litigation itself, raising the specter that her treatments might be discontinued as soon as the litigation has concluded,' Lamberth said. Trump's order also directed the Bureau of Prisons to ensure that 'males are not detained in women's prisons,' but Lamberth blocked prison officials from transferring three incarcerated transgender women to men's facilities in February. The judge said there's no evidence Trump or prison officials considered the harm the new policies could do to transgender inmates. 'The defendants argue that the plaintiffs have not alleged irreparable harm because they are all currently receiving hormone medications. But it suffices to say that all three plaintiffs' access to hormone therapy is, as best the Court can tell, tenuous,' Lamberth said. Trump signed several orders rolling back protections for transgender people, ruling that the two 'immutable sexes' are 'not changeable.' The orders directed federal prisons along with shelters for migrants and rape victims to be segregated by sex. He also directed federal money to be no longer be used to fund 'transition services.' Transgender inmates were federally protected under the Barack Obama Administration, before Trump appealed the policy during his first term. Obama's policy was later reenacted under the Joe Biden Administration and Trump once again appealing it. The president also demanded officials use the term 'sex' rather than 'gender.' Federal agencies were urged to end funding to promote 'gender ideology' and protect against 'gender extremism.' contacted the Justice Department for comment. The Bureau of Prisons declined to comment.
