[CorkyMax]

5 Ways Pets Can Improve Your Health

[pattimow]

I know for a fact that my health is better because of my doggy. I have extremely high blood pressure and I can feel myself relaxing when I love up on my fur baby. Just petting her seems to release stress. I am disabled due to a bad car wreck a few years ago and just knowing I have to get up and go outside with my furbaby helps me to keep from getting all stove up. Moving around sometimes is hard for me but knowing I HAVE to for her sake helps me keep going rather than just giving up.

[FarmMedley]

Very interesting piece, thank you. I know that my dogs are always a great source of stress relief if I'm having a bad day. No matter what happens, they are always there for me, willing to give and receive as much positive attention as possible.
My wife and I both had dogs (a lab/golden mix and a corgi) when we weren't married, and when we brought them together and they became the best of friends. So I guess you could say they were a date magnet for us!

[Lara's mom]

I lost my mom in June of 2009 after a very long illness. If it hadn't been for the love of my dogs and their need to be fed, walked and played with, I honestly don't know how I'd have survived her loss.

[dogsclothesplus]

I know my stress level seems to melt away when I am home. I travel quite a bit and when I get home they greet me full force

[scrofford]

Not only can having a pet lower your stress level, but if you have a dog, taking them for a walk everyday (if you are able to exercise) is excellent for your physical health.

I know of people who were in very poor shape and got a dog and started walking them everyday and within six months to a year were much healthier. Your dog needs exercise, so what better way than to walk it everyday and get yourself healthier also!

[mystyle]

Health can be improve by dogs. There is no doubt. But it can be hazard for the health too. The place where dog goes or walk they consume oxygen and gives carbon dioxide which is harmful for health. This may cause asthma and various breathing problems.

[mypetisloved]

Mystyle, I'm not sure exactly what you meant. Could you clarify? I find that my health has improved TONS since getting my dogs. I love walking them and sitting with them at night.

[Dirky47]

Very realistic Article. Dogs is really a helpful friend to us.

[fidobuddy]

Pet ownership really help us become more patient, responsible, caring and loving. Seeing my cute pups just take my stress even in a tiresome day

[Woolsy]

Sometimes I pity the dogs when they are used for date magnets. I agree that this kind of getting a date is very effective but what about the dog?

Going back to topic, I absolutely agree that dogs are beneficial to the owners. Dogs are the companions that are always faithful and caring even though sometimes the owner does something bad with the pet.

I remember our dogs back at my parent's home because they would wiggle their tails like it will come off every time we come back home. There is nothing that could replace that happy feeling of a dog meeting you.

[Ann]

That's an interesting article and how true it is that keeping pets does improve health or wellbeing of a person. I know cos I've been having dogs as companions ever since I was a kid!

[CorkyMax]

When people stroke or caress pets, the centrzal nervous system releases
"feel-good" hormones such as dopamine, endorphins and esp. oxytocin, which promotes calm and warmth. And when feel-good chemicals rise, the stress hormone cortisol also decreases.

But dogs effect more than mood. With olfactory (smell) senses at least 10,000 times more powerful than ours, dogs can smell minute changes in human body chemistry. When trained, a dog can alert a person in advance of an oncoming epileptic seizure or detect a potentially life-threatening drop in blood sugar 10 to 15 minutes before a glucose meter (which measures sugar levels in the blood) does. These talented dogs can then dial 911 on a specially programmed phone. [B]Luna, I wonder if your very smart Buster could be trained and alert you to Luna (the dog)about to have a seizure!? I am serious here, but could also be another chapter for your 'Buster book' too![/B]

Children who have trouble relating to people often have no trouble relating to dogs, adds Barbara Wolf-Dorlester, PhD, a psychologist who works with special-needs children in Manhattan and is the founder of a program called Puppies for Emotive Therapy. Barbara treats children with neurologically based disorders such as autism. Her therapeutic goal is to draw children out and engage them in the world. "Children have natural connections to animals." She has seen autistic children engage with her dog, Moxie, in a way that they won't engage with another person.

To adopt a pet, contact:
American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Go to ASPCA: The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and look in their Find a Shelter database under "Adoption."

Humane Society of the United State. Go to The Humane Society of the United States : The Humane Society of the United States and look under the Select a Pet menu.

To request a service animal or to train one for service, contact: Delta Society, Delta Society - Improving lives through Service & Therapy animals

Companion Animals, Assistance Animals & Special Needs Animals Help,
Companion Animals, Assistance Animals, & Special-Needs Animals Help

[Todd]

Here's another interesting article on this subject featuring a scientific study;

method to live a longer and healthier life is to get a dog. However if you are not a dog owner and acquire one merely to live longer this may not be a sensible strategy as the time spent taking care of the dog will probably be more than the extra years gained.

The British Journal of Health Psychology reviewed many papers to find out the benefits to owning a pet dog. In the report Dr. Deborah Wells, from Queen’s University in Belfast stated that owners of dogs tended to have lower cholesterol and blood pressure. To add weight to her claim, a study of over 5000 people conducted at the Baker Medical Research Institute in Melbourne found that pet owners had significantly lower systolic blood pressure and cholesterol than non-owners.

Dr. Well postulates here of the reasons for dogs promoting well-being:

“It is possible that dogs can directly promote our well-being by buffering us from stress,” said Dr Wells, “The ownership of a dog can also lead to increases in physical activity and facilitate the development of social contact, which may enhance both physiological and psychological human health in a more indirect manner.”

Dr. Wells found that pet owners tended to be healthier in general, but that dogs appeared to have a better influence on well being than cats. Reinforcing this point in the report was the point that people who took cats and dogs from animal shelters noticed a decrease in minor health complaints, but only dog owners kept these improvements after 10 months.

In a study appearing in Public Health Reports in the USA, in1980’s, demonstrated that survival rates of heart attack victims who had a pet where 28 percent higher, that patients who had no pet. Alan Beck, at Purdue University postulated that the contact with pets triggered a relaxation response in the owner and would reduce stress levels. For dogs specifically the extra exercise gained while taking the pet for walks could also account for the difference.

To counter balance this optimism, it needs to be stated that pet owners, and non pet owners tend to be two very distinct groups of people, and as such it could be another trait which pet owners share which could be causing this effect, for example pet owners may eat more healthy foods than non-pet owners.

[dogbuddy]

A great link...Very informative article

Thanks!