You have full access to this open access article. This is a phenomenological study intended to more fully understand the meaning and significance older adults attach to their relationship with their dogs. What do those relationships look like? What is it about those relationships that communities need to pay attention to in order to foster positive ageing?
Participants were ten women and four men, ranging in age from 60 to 99 years, and their dogs, ranging in age from four to 16 plus years, in four communities in Nova Scotia, Canada. Information was gathered over a period of a year through indepth conversations, observations, and photographs in order to capture the nature and meaning of the dog-human relationships. These themes depict the meaning the participants attach to their dogs and point to the psycho-spiritual nature of those relationships.
The research evidences the role of dogs in the well-being and quality of life of older adults and identifies the support of those relationships as a community and societal responsibility.
The goal of creating conditions to ensure that older adults are able to maintain a high standard of health and well-being must include strategies that recognize and support the significance of dog-senior relationships; that is, the development of age-friendly communities as petfriendly communities. Lynn, a retired widow, shares her peaceful, rural home with Austin, a Chocolate Labrador Retriever, who she rescued several years ago from harsh living conditions; Clarence, a 16 plus year old Jack Russell mix who she adopted just a year ago; and Casper, a pure white, long-haired cat she rescued from a local shelter.
Both dogs have special needs. One day I hope to have the look on my face that Austin gets when he knows he is going in the car to go for a run. The ecstasy on his face jumps right out at you. He brightens everything up. He is just a joy. Cathy is in her late 60s. She lives on a farm with a senior German Shepherd and a young Australian Shepherd. She organizes her days around activities with her dogs—tracking, agility, herding, and, of course, just being in companionship.
