If you have a dog or even access to a dog, you have the benefit of increasing your overall health and well-being. That is great news for dog owners with JDs because stress, anxiety, and depression are all too common to our profession. According to the ABA, the problem is so prevalent that by law school graduation, graduates are almost four times as likely to experience depression or other mental health issues. A dog can help combat these symptoms and improve your overall mental health, especially when you may need it most—during bar prep!
Below are some of the ways your health is already improving by having your dog around:
Decreased stress
Bar prep can be stressful. Between the enormous amount of material to digest, hours of sitting, answering multiple choice questions, memorizing outlines, and typing essays and MPTs, it can be easy to feel stressed. If you experience symptoms of depression and anxiety, it can be even more overwhelming.
Research shows that just interacting with a dog for ten minutes has health benefits, as it decreases stress levels. Dogs have calming effects and can lower the levels of the stress hormone, cortisol. This is great news if you do not own a dog but have access to one—whether you’re walking a neighbor’s pet or visiting an animal shelter. Additionally, dogs mirror the stress from their owner – which is a great incentive to raise your self-awareness and increase your calmness around your dog.
Dogs can even help you with specific tasks and serve as an emotional support animal. For example, a dog can help someone with insomnia sleep better at night or have the intuition to hop on an anxious owner’s lap when they are experiencing distress.
Increased physical activity
Moving around is a great way to start your day, break up your many hours of studying and getting through bar exam material, and to simply clear your head. One of the greatest health benefits that walking provides is increased blood flow to the brain, which is associated with increased cognitive function and improving memory. This is especially appealing during bar prep, as you are constantly memorizing rules and elements!
Engaging in physical activity is hard to stick to when there is so much to do. I have found it is so much easier when you have a reason to move around—such as a dog that needs it! I personally have three dogs and previously thought this would be an added stressor during bar prep. I was extremely motivated by my dogs and knew that they needed the walk as much as I did. I found that the combined hours of walking to be super productive. While walking my dogs twice or sometimes three times a day, I would listen to podcasts, lectures and think about the material. Other times, I would listen to a walking meditation or relaxing music.
Sticking to a routine
Having a dog can really help to structure your day and manage your time efficiently. Time management is essential in order to meet your various tasks between the MEE, MBE and MPT. Fitting in your dog’s needs including meals, walks, and playtime really helps to organize your day. Some dogs will even hold you to it! For example, mine would wake me up after getting used to our 6:30 am alarm and run up to me for their noon meal. Even when I wanted to fall out of order and ignore my schedule and procrastinate — they wouldn’t let me. In other words, you have an accountability partner to help you stay on track and commit to your schedule. I found this to be especially helpful for when I really needed to buckle down and get serious about my progress. If you have a dog and sometimes feel overwhelmed by the responsibility, this shift in perspective can really help you implement improvements and maintain better study habits.
Quality of Life
Let’s face it – the period you are studying for the bar is time-consuming, and it is not unusual for us to joke and create memes that we don’t have a life outside of bar prep. Having a dog by your side can really comfort you, make you smile, help you move more, be more aware, and feel a sense of purpose. These benefits can help you achieve balance in your day and come out on the other side with optimism and gratitude.
Owning a dog also comes with its challenges: there is cost, time, and maintaining their health—but the benefits to your overall well-being really outweigh the drawbacks in my opinion. So, throw your dog a treat, take a break to play fetch, bring them on your next coffee run for a Starbucks “Puppuccino” (yes, it’s a real item on the menu) and enjoy how “pawesome” they are!
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