Are you a dog person? Good to know, then! You probably agree that dog is not only an excellent pet but more than that, dog is also a good friend and part of the family. They bring joy and happiness to our home. Even just simply watching them acting cute and lovely can make us happy, right?
However, owning a dog is actually good for us because it improves our lives in many aspects. For you who already have one might easily notice the benefits. But if you love dogs but haven’t got any dogs as a pet yet, this article will help you out to understand them better and give you more reasons to bring one of them to your house after knowing the benefit of having dog as a pet below. The best thing is, having a dog is not only making you happy but also giving you some health benefits. Curious? Then let’s get started!
Is it true that owning dog will help you living longer life?
- Dog is good for your heart –literally
Well, we all know that dogs can make us happy and full of joy, but do you know that having a dog is also good for our heart health? Studies show that having a dog as a companion is linked to lower blood pressure, reduce the level of cholesterol, and improve overall cardiovascular. It is also known that dog owners have fewer heart attacks.
- Dog can encourage you to stay fit and active
One of the most common things about having a dog as a pet is the habit of walk the dog daily. A regular walk is essential for your dog’s health. It is depending on the age, size, and breed of the dog, but in general, we should take our dogs for a walk at least 30 minutes every day. However, this habit is not only good for the dog but also for the owner. A study found that dog owners had fewer minor health problems compared to those who haven’t get a dog as a pet. How so? Well, we know that by getting more exercise or physical activity, we can decrease the risk of some minor health problems and even help us to lose weight, and the daily habit of taking our dog for a walk can also be counted as an exercise!
From this, we can say that dog is ‘forcing’ us to be active and walk outside daily. This exercise can be boring if you do it by yourself but having a furry friend to walk with us can be encouraging, right?
- Dog can help you to improve your social life
Another great thing about taking our dogs for a walk is: we will have a chance to get out and meet another dog person. Commonly, some strangers might try to come to you and ask your permission to pet your furry friends. Meeting with other dog owners is also exciting because we can share stories and experiences about our dogs. Some studies even found that dog owners can make friends easily, tend to be a little more extroverted and outgoing.
- Dog can help you to improve your mental health
Another fun fact is that dog can ‘sense’ you. They can feel and respond to your projected emotion, including your sadness. You may find your dog try to cheer you up whenever you feel sad with their puppy eyes or just simply act goofy in front of you. Besides, have you ever heard about therapy dogs? Well, it is also true that caring for a dog, even only by a simple gesture like petting, watching, and playing together with it, can help you to decrease the stress hormones and lower your blood pressure. The study also found that dogs can ease the tension in a stressful condition, for example at the office where people tend to have a lot of pressure from their tasks or jobs. Imagine having a dog roam around your office, spreading joy and happiness everywhere! Monday would be better, right?
Having a dog as a companion can also help people who suffer from depression and prevent loneliness. Dog owners are less likely to be depressed because dogs can help the owners to relieve the depression symptoms and the intention to keep taking care of them can give them purpose in life. Dogs can make you feel like you are loved, too.
- Dogs can help to lower the chance of pet allergy in children.
An earlier study found that having a dog (and cat, too) as a pet in your home can help to lower the chance of pet allergies in children and might even contribute to the development of their immune system.
- (Trained) dogs can help to detect disease and injury earlier
Some dogs have been trained to be able to sniff out cancers, like prostate cancer, kidney cancer, and skin cancer. This can be helpful to the dog owners to notice the disease earlier so they can get early treatment as soon as possible. Dog companionship can also help people with autism, rheumatoid arthritis, Alzheimer’s, and traumatic brain. Having a dog by their side can help their mobility and help them to be calmer.
As for the conclusion, we can say that having a dog as a pet is good for our physical and mental health. Owning a dog can improve our life, from reducing the risk of heart attack, encouraging us to exercise and lose weight, improving our social life and mental health, helping those who have special needs, and even detecting cancers!
Hence, no wonder why dog owners tend to have fewer doctor visits compared to those who did not own dogs. Dogs are not only helping us to live longer and healthy but also to let us stay happy! After all, they will love you as much as we love them, right?