Pet Care

(Last Updated On: October 31, 2023)

In good times and bad, dogs are our closest companions

Dogs, frequently referred to as “man’s best friend,” have been the subject of numerous scientific research into how they can improve our well-being. In this Spotlight, we’ll go over how your friendly dog can boost your health in general. Discover how dogs can benefit our physical and mental well-being. Of course, these wolf cousins have historically been excellent at keeping us and our homes secure, guarding our homes, cattle, and various worldly possessions. Throughout history, humans have trained dogs to help them hunt, or they have produced a variety of odd-looking animals for their cuteness or elegance. In this Spotlight, we highlight the research that reveals how our dogs make us happier, more resilient when faced with stress, and physically healthier, to name a few benefits of these much-loved quadrupeds.

How dogs keep you in good health

Many research have suggested that having dogs as pets is related with improved physical health, according to reviews of the existing literature. These findings have not changed. Dogs ‘push’ their owners to exercise on a daily basis. A research published last year in Medical News Today found that keeping a dog reduced a person’s chance of early death by up to a third. In addition, experts at Harvard University in Cambridge, MA, believe that dog owners have a lower risk of heart disease. However, the benefits may appear as a result of a number of variables related to lifestyle changes that people undertake after deciding to acquire a canine companion. Physical exercise is the most significant of these lifestyle factors. There is no getting around it: if you get a dog, you must commit to twice-daily walks, if not more. According to a report published in The Journal of Physical Activity and Health, dog owners are more likely than non-pet owners and persons who own pet cats to walk for leisure purposes.

Dogs make people feel good

The most obvious advantage of sharing your life and home with a canine companion is that canines quickly offer you “feel-good vibrations. “Dogs are frequently utilized as therapy animals because they are relaxing to individuals. Even after a long day at work, it’s tough not to smile when you’re welcomed with — frequently vocal — joy by a nice dog. According to studies, this is due to the influence of the “love hormone” oxytocin.” Animal aid in therapy, teaching, and care has substantially risen during the last decades,” wrote the authors of a review published in Frontiers in Psychology. Furthermore, dogs appear to lessen depression symptoms and make people more robust to stress. As a result, dogs are frequently used as therapy animals. As researcher Brian Hare, of Duke University in Durham, NC, remarked in an interview for The Washington Post:

“Dogs make people happy, and their sole purpose is to make people in stressful situations feel better.”

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