Dogs: Our best

friends in sickness
and in health
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Dogs, often hailed as humans’ best

friends, have been the topic of many
scientific studies looking into how
they might boost our well-being. In this
Spotlight, we’ll explain how your
friendly pup can benefit your health
across the board.
 Learn just how dogs can contribute to our physical and
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emotional well-being.

According to the American Society for the Prevention of

Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), an estimated 78 million dogs
are owned as pets in the United States.
It is unclear when dogs were first domesticated, but a
study published last year claims that, at least in Europe,
dogs were tamed 20,000–40,000 years ago.

It is likely that humans and dogs have shared a special bond

of friendship and mutual support ever since at least the
Neolithic period — but why has this bond been so long-
lasting?

Of course, these cousins of the wolves have historically

been great at keeping us and our dwellings safe, guarding
our houses, our cattle, and our various material goods.
Throughout history, humans have also trained dogs to assist
them with hunting, or they have bred numerous quirky-
looking species for their cuteness or elegance.

However, dogs are also — and might have always been —

truly valued companions, famed for their loyalty and
seemingly constant willingness to put a smile on their
owners’ faces.

In this Spotlight, we outline the research that shows how

our dogs make us happier, more resilient when
facing stress, and physically healthier, to name but a few
ways in which these much-loved quadrupeds support our
well-being.

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How dogs keep you in good
health
Many studies have suggested that having dogs as pets is
associated with better physical health, as reviews of the
existing literature show. These findings persist.
Share on Pinterest Dogs ‘force’ their owners to take daily exercise.

Just last year, Medical News Today reported on a study

that showed that owning a dog reduces a person’s risk of
premature death by up to a third.
Also, researchers at the University of Harvard in Cambridge,
MA, suggest that dog owners have a lower risk of heart
disease.

Why is that? It is difficult to establish a causal relationship

between owning a dog and enjoying better health.

However, the benefits may appear thanks to a series of

factors related to lifestyle adjustments that people tend to
make after they decide to adopt a canine friend.

The most prominent such lifestyle factor is physical activity.

There is no way around it: if you own a dog, you have to
commit to twice daily walks — and sometimes even more.

According to a paper published in The Journal of Physical

Activity and Health, dog owners are more likely to walk for
leisure purposes than both non-pet owners and people who
own pet cats.

The results were based on studying a cohort of 41,514

participants from California, some of whom owned dogs,
some of whom owned cats, and some of whom did not have
any pets.

Moreover, several recent studies — including one from the

University of Missouri in Columbia and another from
Glasgow Caledonian University in the United Kingdom —
found that adults aged 60 and over enjoy better health
thanks to the “enforced” exercise they get by walking their
dogs.

“Over the course of a week, this additional time spent

walking may in itself be sufficient to meet [World Health
Organization] recommendations of at least 150 minutes of
moderate to vigorous physical activity.”
Philippa Dall, Glasgow Caledonian University

Dogs can strengthen our health not just as we grow older,

but also much, much earlier than that: before we are even
born.

Research published last year suggests that children who

were exposed to dogs while still in the womb — as their
mothers spent time around dogs during pregnancy — had
a lower risk of developing eczema in early childhood.

Also, children exposed to certain bacteria carried by dogs

also experienced a reduction of asthma symptoms, the
researchers noted.

‘Dogs make people feel

good’
Perhaps the most intuitive benefit of sharing your life and
home with a canine friend is that dogs give you “feel-good
vibes” almost instantly.
 Dogs are often used as therapy animals because they have
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a calming effect on people.

It is really difficult not to cheer up, even after a hard day’s

work, when you are greeted with — often vocal —
enthusiasm by a friendly dog.
This, researchers explain, is due to the effect of the “love
hormone” oxytocin.

“During the last decades,” write the authors of a

review that featured in Frontiers in Psychology, “animal
assistance in therapy, education, and care has greatly
increased.”

When we interact with dogs, our oxytocin levels shoot up.

Since this is the hormone largely responsible for social
bonding, this hormonal “love injection” boosts our
psychological well-being.

Previous studies analyzed in the review have revealed that

dog owners have more positive social interactions, and that
the presence of canine friends makes people more trusting…
and also more deserving of trust.

Moreover, dogs appear to reduce symptoms

of depression and render people more resilient to stress.
That is why dogs are often used as therapy animals. As
researcher Brian Hare, of Duke University in Durham, NC,
noted in an interview for The Washington Post:

“Dogs make people feel good, and their only job is to help
people in stressful situations feel better.”

Researchers hypothesize that therapy dogs can improve

the psychological well-being of children going
through cancer therapy, as well as help individuals
diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) deal
with disruptive symptoms or even prevent the onset of
PTSD episodes.
What clinical research in
dogs can teach us
Our canine companions could also give us clues and open
new avenues of research when it comes to clinical research
concerning our own health problems.
 Dogs share many diseases with humans; by learning more
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about them, we can also learn more about ourselves.

A study that MNT covered earlier this year reveals that

dogs share certain metabolic conditions — such
as obesity — with their human owners.
Thus, learning more about dogs’ gut microbiota and how
they are affected by diet could help us understand how best
to tackle our own eating habits.

Like humans, dogs can also develop some forms of cancer.

Much like us, dogs can get brain tumors to similarly
destructive effect, so learning which genes predispose our
canine companions to gliomas may also be translated into
cancer research for human patients.

Moreover, a contagious form of canine cancer could shed

light into how forms of cancer found in humans have come
to develop.

Dogs can also experience certain features characteristic

of dementia, such as impaired problem-solving abilities.

Researchers explain that by understanding how cognitive

tasks are affected in these quadrupeds, we may become
better equipped to solve the riddle of dementia in the case
of humans, too.

“Dogs,” notes Dr. Rosalind Arden, of the London School of

Economics and Political Science in the U.K., “are one of the
few animals that reproduce many of the key features of
dementia.”

“[S]o,” she goes on to add, “understanding their cognitive

abilities could be valuable in helping us to understand the
causes of this disorder in humans and possibly test
treatments for it.”

Dogs are not just incredibly loveable and often very funny
friends whose antics fuel the Internet’s store of memes
continuously; their company also keeps us in good physical
shape. Also, their health problems — sadly but endearingly
— often mirror our own.

Most of all, however, we welcome them into our lives — and

have done so since time immemorial — because they
instantly bring us the sort of joy and calm that we would
otherwise have to work hard to obtain.

Author Dean Koontz summarized this perfectly in

his memoir of his own much-loved dog:

“One of the greatest gifts we receive from dogs is the

tenderness they evoke in us. […] By their delight in being
with us, the reliable sunniness of their disposition, the joy
they bring to playtime, the curiosity with which they
embrace each new experience, dogs can melt cynicism, and
sweeten the bitter heart.”