Question-Week ending Sunday 09/01/02:
If you own a pet, how strongly do you believe your pet has added a dimension to YOUR happiness or to the happiness of your HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS? Please read this weeks pre-poll commentary before taking this poll.
Pre-Poll Commentary:
In this week's poll, we will try to bring to our consciousness a topic that can possibly add another dimension of happiness into ones life. Nurturing and enjoying a pet.
As with any topic we cover, there will always be a diversity of opinions based on each person's experiences. In the case of having a pet join your family or household, there will be no exception to how diverse the opinions can be.
I can only write this commentary based on my own experiences. For the first 83% of my life to date, I did not have a pet in my household. Then one Christmas nearly a decade ago, we purchased a puppy for our kids. It's safe to say that most kids enjoy the positives of pet ownership without wanting the responsibilities of care taking. Pet responsibilities for conscientious owners are similar to the responsibilities of rearing small children. They are dependent on their owners for lots of care.
However, from my own family experience, my wife and I have found the caretaking responsibilities to be a small price to pay in exchange for the warmth and companionship that our pet brought into our family life.
Pet ownership, has so many positive aspects to add to family life. Pets teach kids and adults how to nurture, care and enjoy the companionship of a snugly and innocent friend who always has unconditional love to share. Sure there are negatives to pet ownership. But at eHappyLife we dwell on the positive things about life and in my opinion, pet ownership is one of them.
I would like to share with you one great health discipline my dog started as soon as we got him. Dogs love to walk and I can honestly say that my dog trained me to walk him at least twice, each and every day. Thank goodness he did, because he started a daily exercise discipline with me that enabled us to walk over 6000 miles together. My dog also inspired me to set a 25 year goal to walk 24901 miles (the earth's distance around the equator). I'm determined to achieve this goal right on time!
This weeks poll has been created to view the opinions of our participants who have pets, so if you don't have one you might consider getting one to add another happy dimension to life.
This poll will end on Sunday 9/01/02. Watch for the results and summary on Monday morning 9/02/02.
Results:
- 95% reported that they strongly agree with statement
- 04% reported that they agree with statement
- 01% reported that they disagree with statement
- 00% reported that they strongly disagree with statement
Post-Poll Commentary:
From the results of this poll we could make a very strong case that pet ownership adds a great dimension to the happiness of the family they become a part of. Withstanding all of the negatives of pet ownership, our top vote was 95% who strongly agreed to the question. A distant second was 4% agreeing. In dead last was only 1% disagreeing that pets bring happiness into your household.
This cut and dry poll illustrates why so many people have pets of all types and sizes. The pet industry is huge and growing. If you don't presently own a pet, it's never too late to get one. Enjoy!