Pros And Cons Of Adopting A Dog If You Have Anxiety

If you’ve considered getting a dog for emotional support, it’s important to know the pros and cons of adopting a dog when you have anxiety! Adopting a dog will totally change your life—but are you ready?

Although I’m getting healthier every day, anxiety has always been a part of my life. When I was considering adopting my fur baby two and a half years ago, the decision made me 10x more anxious for a while! It’s not a decision to be taken lightly. But now, I wouldn’t trade my best friend for the world.

Here are all of the pros and cons I can think of for adopting a dog if you have anxiety so that you can make the right decision for yourself about getting an emotional support dog.

Pros:

Your dog will become your emotional support animal

Many people like to make jabs about support animals not being “real” service animals. And while I concede that most emotional support dogs don’t have nearly the same impressive training as animals that provide other services, the service that support dogs provide is incredibly valuable.

If you have anxiety and you choose to adopt a dog, that dog 100% will become your emotional support animal. You’ll bond to each other so much that just making eye contact with your sweet pet will boost your oxytocin levels and improve your mood.

Your dog will give you a sense of purpose

You will become the main care-taker for your adoptee. Because of this, your dog will look to you for care and comfort which gives will give you a sense of importance and purpose. Sometimes anxiety can make our brains spin out of control about how we fit into the world. Being your dog’s parent will be a new, meaningful identity that you can always fall back on even when you’re having a particularly anxious episode.

Owning a dog can make you feel more grounded

Owning a dog gives you something to take care of outside of yourself which takes your focus off yourself and puts it on something in your external environment. Having this change in perspective can be very grounding and helpful for soothing anxiety. Plus, your home will become more home-y with a dog in it (especially if you currently live alone) and having a cozier home-space is also very grounding.

Owning a dog can encourage you to create a more structured routine

Your new addition to the family is going to have needs. You’ll have to take your dog on walks, give it breakfast and dinner, keep the water bowl full, let it out for potty breaks, brush its teeth, etc. (Not trying to scare you, this is a good thing!) Having to factor the needs of your dog into your day will force you to be more structured with your daily routine.

Creating a more disciplined routine that ensures your pup is happy and healthy will help you stay grounded, happy, and healthy, too! If you suffer from anxiety, you already know that sticking to a schedule is helpful for maintaining good mental health.

(Related: How To Be More Disciplined (6 Steps))

Your dog will encourage you to go for walks

Chances are, your new fur baby is gonna want to go for walks with you. This is great news for your anxiety because a walking routine is proven to ease symptoms of mental health conditions like depression and anxiety. I know from personal experience it can be tough to convince yourself to do the things you need to do for your well-being even when you know you need to do them. Adopting a dog will make you more likely to follow through on this one anxiety-soother, going for walks.

You’ll spend less time alone

If you live alone right now, adopting a dog will totally change your home life. There will literally always be another living, breathing creature in the house with you. If you have anxiety, this can be a really refreshing change! You can talk to, snuggle, and play with your new pet anytime you want—which means less time for ruminating and catastrophizing.

A dog will give you excuses to meet new people

I recognize that meeting new people might be a double-edged sword for anyone with anxiety, so you’ll see this again in the “cons” list. But sometimes, being forced outside of the bubble of your own anxious reality to interact with other humans can be good for your anxious mind.

Adopting a dog will give you lots of new opportunities to interact with new people in an organic way. You’ll meet other dog lovers at the dog park and on walks, you’ll occasionally have to take your fur baby to the vet and daycare, and if meeting people is a perk you enjoy, there are tons of Facebook groups and forums you can join too!

Cons:

You may project your anxious perspective onto your dog’s well-being

If you are adopting a dog and you have anxiety, chances are it’s going to take practice to trust that your dog is safe, happy, and healthy. When you fall in love with this new creature, you’re going to want to make sure it’s okay and do everything you can to ensure that. Just be aware—there’s a fine line between being careful and being over-protective. Don’t project your anxiety onto your dog’s health and well-being or you’ll quickly discover that your anxiety is worse, not better thanks to every whine or lost tooth.

Having a dog can become expensive if you over-stress about the dog’s well-being

If you do over-stress about the well-being of your new dog, you’re gonna find that it quickly becomes a very expensive mistake. Vet visits (especially emergency visits) and meds for your pup aren’t cheap. Just be aware of how your anxiety might be skewing your interpretation of your dog’s health, happiness, and well-being.

It takes time to build a relationship with a pet

If you have anxiety, sometimes building new relationships can feel challenging, exhausting, and vulnerable. Unfortunately, even with a pet, it does take a little time to get to know each other and fall in love. Building this relationship requires a healthy dose of patience and trust which might be challenging when you’re in the throes of anxiety. However, speaking from personal experience, it’s totally worth it!

You’ll have to consider how adopting a pet affects your daily life and long-term plans

Adopting a dog, even for the sake of having an emotional support animal, is a big decision. It’s natural to think about how this decision will affect your daily life and routine as well as your more long-term vision for your life. Will you still be able to make spontaneous decisions, travel, stay out late, etc?

It’s a good idea to be realistic about how a dog will fit into your life. Just be aware that it’s easy to overthink this step and feel like you’ll never have the time or be willing to give up your freedom, or you may worry that you’re not good enough to be a dog-parent. Be realistic, but don’t let your anxiety overwhelm you during this process.

You will be forced to interact with new people

Again, this is the double-edged sword of adopting a dog if you have anxiety. You will definitely have to interact with new people on your dog’s behalf. Even though interacting with new people can be anxiety inducing, I’ve found it to be totally worth it, knowing that it’s all for the sake of my dog, aka the love of my life.

Your dog may pick up on and mirror your anxiety

Dogs are very sensitive to human emotions. It’s part of why they make such good emotional support animals, but it also means that we must be aware of how we’re making our fur babies feel. It can be hard to witness your dog experience anxiety so it’s a good idea to practice good, healthy habits and coping mechanisms in front of your dog from the get-go. But really, this may be a “pro” because it will encourage you to make good choices surrounding your anxiety!

Final Thoughts

In my experience, the pros have far out-weighed the cons of adopting a dog, even though I have anxiety. Adopting this little creature has improved my mental health, has contributed to my personal development, and has generally improved my life. If now is not that right time for you to build a relationship with an emotional support animal, that is totally fine! Be honest and patient with yourself and do what’s right for you.

(Related: 10 Ways Self-Development Has Improved My Mental Health)