January is a month that doesn’t have a good reputation in general. This is the month in which you generally have more expenses, but there is also a day in which you are particularly down in the dumps than usual, called Blue Mondayi.e. the saddest day of the yearwhich falls on the third Monday of the first month of the year.
But if you have a caneyou’re in luck: your four-legged friend makes you “immune” to Blue Monday! Let’s see why.
Your dog will make you immune to Blue Monday
It is thanks to researcher Cliff Arnaldell’Cardiff University, in the UK, if that date, discovered by him in 2005, is marked on the calendar. Climatic, economic and motivational factors affect people’s mood, especially that day. But thanks to dogs, our mood will improve!
In fact, we know, also thanks to science, that having a dog or a cat brings great benefits: stress reduction, heart rate and blood pressure. Being with them allows you to release theoxytocinthe popular happiness hormone. And dogs are great specialists!
Your dog is the antidote to sadness
Do you know why your dear four-legged friend is in charge of giving you support on Blue Monday? THE dogs can help you be happy and ignore the saddest day of the year.
Here are some ideas to put into practice with your dog to fight the most depressing day of 2023. Take note!
1. Walk your dog
Having a dog “forces” you to go out at least three times a day to take him to do his needs: an opportunity to take a walk while distracted from a bad mood. If you are sad, this is a great help against Blue Monday. If you didn’t have a dog, you’d just lay on the sofa, right?
2. “Welcome Home”
It doesn’t matter if you only left the house for five minutes or three hours. When you open the door you already know the party your dog will give you, as if he hasn’t seen you for a whole month! Jumps, hugs and cuddles they will welcome you home.
3. Play with your dog
Whether on a walk or at home, another way to interact with your dog is play with him. Whether it’s teaching him some educational tricks, running around the countryside together or hiding some snacks around the house, it all helps strengthen your bond and have fun togetherforgetting Blue Monday!
4. Laugh with your dog (or at him!)
Sometimes dogs tend to be a disasterbut they also know how to win you over when you scold them by doing those irresistible sweet eyes. Either way, you’ll laugh about it considering the pure innocence who has a dog.
5. Bring your four-legged friend to the office if you can!
According to a study by theUniversity of Lincoln, Englandpets in the office contribute to to increase considerably the concentration and well-being of employees. In particular, the interviewees found better home-work management (+14.9%) and a higher quality of working life (+16.9%). Furthermore, there is a 33.4% increase in concentration on work.
Purinaa company specializing in the pet sector, supported the research conducted by the University, and through the “Pets at Work Alliance”, promotes the importance of a working environment open to 4 pawspositive both for employees and for the company itself.
Article written in collaboration with:
Lola Duarte
Journalist specializing in canine behavior and animal legislation