Can Pets Make Us Happier?

When Rosemary Wood was four years old, her family’s dog was poisoned. Wood grew up on a small farm in Athens, Georgia in the 1950s. In the evenings, Wood and her siblings played outside, running the perimeter of the land with their various goats and dogs. It was easy to disappear, but Wood’s mother had a fool-proof tracking method: When she called for the children, Trixie, a wiry, copper-haired mutt, was always first to appear. Whenever the family left the farm, Trixie awaited their return on a large rock at the end of the driveway. One afternoon, Wood’s mother and father drove Wood and her six-year-old brother, John, to the local airport to play on an abandoned plane, a popular playground in the rural town. When the family returned to the farm, Trixie wasn’t at her post. Wood’s mother hurried to the house. She returned quickly and commanded the kids to stay in the car. <a href="https://medium.com/@j.hamlin08/can-pets-make-us-happier-f9dcefea4c9e">Learn More</a>