The next stage in the family life cycle is the Infant/ Toddler stage which begins with the birth of a child. In this stage, the family is trying to learn and manage a whole new kind of life. They are learning to care for an infant, managing the finances associated with increased expenses, priorities are shifting and often couples are learning to share household responsibilities. New concerns are introduced like zoonotic disease, which are diseases transmissible between pets and humans. The most common zoonotic issue is Toxocara or roundworms. It also raises concerns over the relationship between the pet and the child which may include aggression. Some dogs exhibit predatory behavior with infants. Most dog bites occur from fear aggression and this commonly directed at young boys. In this stage, pets can become surrogate children in some single parent or childless families. This is also the stage when pets that had become surrogate children or very close companions prior to children are aging into their geriatric years. The pets may develop terminal illness and pass away which may lead to prolonged periods of grief.

In the school age children portion of the family cycle, families are caught up in meeting the needs of their children and advancing their careers. This is the time of expansion. In this stage, some parents obtain pets to teach children the values of caring, responsibility and empathy. Pets can become very important parts of family rituals. Many of us can remember back to our family dog being a close friend or confidant during these years. The same concerns over zoonotic disease and dog bites carry through into these years in the cycle.

The next phase is entitled “launching” in which the children are moving in to adolescence. Parents are often trying to negotiate life with careers, teenagers and elderly parents. During this time, pets can be great social lubricants and companions for teens that are spending less time with parents. Often times pets obtained during the infant stage are now geriatric and chronic illness and pet death has to be dealt with. Grief of pet loss can trigger adolescent depression especially in girls. Pets can also be sentinels for abuse in this age group.

In the next posting, I will go in to the role of pets in retired and elderly people.

The next several posts will be from a lecture I attended at The North American Veterinary Conference in Orlando this year. The lecture went through the role a pet might play in each of the different stages of “the family life cycle.” Theoretically, pet ownership not only improves the health and well being of a pet, but also the humans in the household. In society today, a child is more likely to live with a pet than with their biological father or sibling. Understanding the relationships between pets and people is becoming increasingly important in family dynamics and personal development.

The first stage in the family cycle is the independent adult. This is when we leave our parents and are living alone and often times, starting full time jobs. In this stage we are starting to build adult relationships with our parents and others. This is when we often get our first pet on our own. We tend to bond very closely and deeply with the pets in this stage of our lives. This is when we are establishing patterns of intimacy and are modeling responsibility in caring for a pet. Pets in this stage can also be social lubricants, helping to break barriers between people. The bond can become excessive however, even to the point where other humans are excluded.

The next stage is the marital dyad when we are forming a stable partnership. Sometimes pets in this stage actually replace another human in this relationship. Getting a pet at this time often helps the transitioning into the next stage which is having children. We will talk about the childhood years in the next post.

Qi (pronounced Chee) is an impossible thing to measure and, for our Western thought process, an almost impossible thing to define. One of my favorite definitions, believe me there are many, is “the animating force expressed through all living processes as movement, transformation, sensation, thought and warmth. All human activity is an evidence and consequence of Qi.” It is a force for both construction and destruction. Everything is composed of and defined by its Qi. It includes all Yin and Yang and it takes countless forms.

The Qi that is directly involved in a person’s life has 3 sources. The original source of Qi is that which is transmitted from parents to their children at conception. The second comes from the food we digest and absorb. The third is from the air that we breathe. There is no place in the body that does not have this intermingled Qi. Qi in different parts of the body and with different functions have their own specific names as well.

Within a body, Qi has 5 major functions:

1. It is the source of all movement and it accompanies all movement (so not only is it the cause but it also flows along with the movement). This includes walking, breathing, speaking, eating growth, etc.
2. It protects the body from external pathogens and helps combat them if they invade.
3. Qi is the source for transforming food into its other states within the body.
4. Qi ensures stability and governs retention. It maintains structure. Qi keeps everything in, like holding organs in their proper place, blood in the vessels, fluid homeostasis, etc.
5. Qi warms the body and maintains normal body temperature.

Hopefully this helps you to understand a very difficult concept to grasp.