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In 2017, my family purchased a dog. I remember thinking, "wow this dog is beautiful" We named her Layla and she was my favorite thing to be around. My dad would say things like "this will only last for a little while, the kids will grow out of her" But that wasn't the same for me. At the age of 14 I was going through some mental health issues and I really did hate my life. I never wanted to go outside and play with the neighborhood kids. When we got Layla she was the one who stood by me and helped me get outside, play with others, and even get out of my comfort zone to show off my puppy. Although she didn't cure my mental health issues automatically she showed me the bright side of life. She made me want to go outside and get exercise rather then sit in my room and clean. Shortly after I started going outside and changing my ways, my dad realize that this wasn't just a short term thing id grow out of. This was something that I needed. This was my overcome my fears and to get out of my bubble and try new things. Now I'm 18 almost 19 living with Layla and she is still such a benefit of my life. She is always so happy when I come and she just brightens my life.

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Animals are not always just pets to keep around because someone "wants one", animals benefit us, physically and mentally in many different ways!

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https://yourstoryclub.com/short-stories-family/family-short-story-mans-best-friend/index.html

In this short story, ADITHI19 explains his dog isADITHI19 talks about how Jackie (the dog) was a friend to his whole family, and how the dog was the alpha of their household. Jackie was categorized as a human rescuer. By this they mean the dog rescued the family with happiness, excitement, and a family member.  ADITHI19 explains that the dog was taken by a thief that went through their house for money from the owners. They dognapped the animal in their household which did a lot. The family had a family member taken away from them. But not only took their family member but a living thing that made their life 10x better. Jackie got the chance to finally run away from the person who took him. Jackie was marked as a brave and loving dog. She was marked as the heart of the family and no one would ever forget that she was a part of their family.

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After reading this heartful story I began to feel more passionate and more thankful for my animals. My dog is my best friend, she makes me happy and she makes me live life better. When reading  ADITHI19’s story I think about things that my dog has done for me. She was there when I first started high school and I loved coming home to her and being around her. She makes home HOME, she makes me enjoy my time at home even if I am fighting with my family. If something happened to my dog Layla I don't know exactly what I would do with myself. I know that when she does pass, it will be a heartbreaking moment and will live with me forever. Do you guys have pets? How do your pets make you feel? And what does your dog do to benefit your life

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https://www.ted.com/talks/julia_espinosa_the_secret_life_of_dogs

Summarize your source

In the Ted Talk, Julia Espinosa asks a range of questions like if the dog loves you or if you can understand each other's feelings. She gives some facts like yes you don't know what the dog is saying or thinking. Espinosa explains to the listeners that dogs don't recognize the world through specific visualization and sight but actual smell. The Smell of a person can make a dog dislike or like them as a person even though they don't know exactly what they are saying or doing. Espinosa elaborates on if a dog experiences emotions, guilty dogs give a huge emotional example that dogs give to their owners.  Espinosa says that dogs do not express guilt as a human would. A dog is responding to the owner's behavior. If the owner is mad they make this expression so that we don't get mad or don't want to be mad at them.

Responding to the source:

Watching Julia Espinosas Ted Talk made me think about times when my animals have made a guilty expression even when I did not show signs of being mad at them. So how do I as an owner know whether they did something or not? As a dog owner, you watch your pet's almost every move, especially coming home and seeing if they've had an accident or even torn something up. For instance, I went out with my family for about 6 hours one day and my dogs gave me a guilty look when I came home. But after looking throughout the house nothing was wrong. So I asked myself why they looked at me like this. A couple of hours later I found what I think was so guilty over knocking a trash can over. After giving my dog love and some attention they snap out of the guilt and become themselves again. Watching Espinosa's video it makes me realize that maybe that's how they always are when no one says anything to them or maybe it was because they did something and I just didn't see it. What would you think if you were to walk into your house and see your dog looking guilty?

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Are there really emotional support animals?

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Are there really emotional support animals?

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As a former employee of Walmart, we had many people come in and say that they were allowed to bring their pets in stores because "they are an emotional support pet" And it became such a thing that people would actually go and buy a animal vest saying they were licensed to be with the person. But overall this is normally a persons short way into saying they can take their pet into anywhere and thats the information behind it! So are there really titles for that? The short answer is YES! This research was a shocker for me due to never actually hearing about it! The long answer is that staff in hospitals will bring pets in to comfort all types of ages in the hospitals for the mental and emotional reasoning. The difference between an Emotional support pet and a Service animal is mainly the licensing! A service animal is required to have some sort of documentation stating they are there to help a person with a disability while an emotional support animal does not need a documentation behind their line of care. When people know this they tend to take advantage of it and think their pets could go anywhere they go. But to have an emotional support animal, one must get the support in a closed space. Yes, breakdowns are tough even when you may be surrounded around people. But the beneficial way an emotional support animal can support you is in a closed space away from what may be triggering you. At the end of the day those who take advantage of the word and go above and beyond really do mess it up for the others who really do need them.

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Based on the research I have done. I have realized that buying a pet may be another way of including fun in someones life but at the end of the day the pet is also there to help those in their tired, sad, depressed, and just exhausted state of minds. Pets really do evaluate your tones and actions to support you the best way possible. Animals are something that have feelings too though, so as someone may yell at an animal they are going to go into a sadness that even humans do. Based on this project ,at the end of this people should be able to understand the in depth meaning of having a pet.

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Overall initially the big thing was, Where? Where could I find things to demonstrate the mental health of a person getting better because of an animal. I had the chance to email a librarian and that really helped! It helped me due to the fact that a librarians job is the books and even the research behind things. In the beginning I had multiple time where I did not think this was a beneficial thing to do for my project. But I realized how my own story is beneficial to the world. Even with other people who demonstrated a benefits of pets showed a big advantage for my project.