15 BENEFITS OF HAVING A DOG IN YOUR LIFE - GEOGRAFÍA - 2024

The health benefits of having a dog are to protect against cardiovascular diseases, improve mental health, meet new people, reduce stress, increase happiness, get less sick, avoid allergies and others that we will explain below.

Whether of breed or not or large or small, we all have a pet that came into our lives by chance and today is one more member of our family. But, did you know that they can produce many positive effects in human beings both physically and mentally?

You have surely noticed that dogs provide you with peace of mind, a feeling of peace and tranquility. They also bring joy because they are usually playful and very friendly with humans. Here we explain the most beneficial positive effects for health.

The benefits of living with a dog

Protect against vascular diseases

Most people who have a dog at home usually take it for a walk between 2 and 3 times a day to perform its needs or simply to play sports.

This simple gesture not only brings benefits for the dog but also for our health since the owners of these pets have greater physical activity compared to people who do not. As a consequence of the above, the former have generally better health, which is proven in fewer medical consultations.

Therefore, they are a protective factor in cardiovascular diseases that can modify risk factors such as blood pressure, which decreases. There is also a clear decrease in blood pressure and heart rate, as well as in the level of stress due to loneliness and anxiety. Lastly, endorphins are also released when petting these pets.

They produce benefits on a psychological level

Dogs are able to reduce the feeling of loneliness, which leads people who have a psychological problem to not want, for example, to end their life, among other things.

On the other hand, they are capable of generating a better integration into the society in which we live, as they help prevent and reduce states of depression, stress, grief and social isolation.

And how do they get it? Well, increasing self-esteem and a sense of responsibility in all those people who are around them.

They help meet new people and connect with other people

Having a dog also improves your social skills as it promotes interaction with people you don't know, but who also have one. Simply by the fact of having this pet you are forced to take him out for a walk and frequent parks and other recreational areas for him.

This will help you meet new people and improve your social skills. On the other hand, it will also allow you to establish bonds of trust in interpersonal relationships.

Neighbors frequently request favors that revolve around the pet, creating a bond of high trust, solidarity and gratitude among them, for which pets are a catalyst that direct owners and other members towards this (Wood and others, 2005).

They are able to calm you down in high stress situations

Although we do not need to rely on any study to know that our beloved dogs have the great ability to calm us, it has already been demonstrated by Dr. Karen Walker of the University of Buffalo in the United States.

This study consisted of subjecting a specific number of people to situations of great tension and mental stress. Thanks to this fact, he found that if there was a dog in the room it was reduced considerably. One more benefit of having this magnificent pet that cannot be overlooked.

They keep you from getting depressed

Whether it is because they love us with all their being or because of the way they look at us or behave, dogs have the ability to prevent us from getting depressed.

This is confirmed by Dr. Peggy Drexler in her article "Dogs, depression and Real Life", in which she assures that the company of pets as dogs reduces the risk of being diagnosed with clinical depression.

For this reason, these fantastic animals are used in animal-assisted therapies for their great benefits at the mental level with elderly and disabled people.

Increase your happiness

As if that weren't enough, they also make us happier and there are studies like those carried out in 2009 by Miho Nagasawa from Azabu University in Japan that prove it.

This research was based on studying the levels of oxytocin (a hormone that gives a feeling of happiness) between people with dogs and their pets by keeping their gaze fixed on each other's eyes. What is interesting about this test is that the only contact that was needed to demonstrate the increase was looking into the animal's eyes.

Even so, we do not need any study to tell us that they make us happier, since simply seeing their enthusiasm when we enter the door of the house or their expression accompanied by rapid tail movements are enough, right?

Makes you sick less

Our dog is also the reason why we get sick less without the need to take any medication because it is the best medicine for our well-being. But how do you get us not so sick?

Its secret is very simple, it is riddled with germs to which we expose ourselves daily and help our immune system to form and give the necessary tools to deal with all of them.

This will help us if we enjoy the company of our pet from a young age to be stronger and contract fewer viruses.

Fight allergies

Just as they can strengthen our immune system, they can also prevent us from developing allergies in the future according to the study published in The Journal of Pediatrics, which analyzes the relationship between pet ownership and eczema.

So if you want to prevent your child from having any type of allergy, having a dog at home can be the solution to this problem since from a young age, they are facing all the germs that they present. In this way, they are unlikely to develop an allergy to animal hair or dander.

Make you feel safe

We all know that dogs are an excellent security system for our home, as they defend us with their barking against possible strangers who may get too close. Therefore, it is a fact that they make us feel safe.

Our pets can use their acute sense of hearing to detect anyone who is hanging around our house and thus help us fall asleep which as a result affects our health in a positive way.

They develop empathy

If we grow up with a dog we will be able to be more understanding than others who have not had the opportunity to develop with a friend of these characteristics.

On the other hand, we will also have more self-esteem and better social skills and of course we will be able to develop empathy and all simply by having a dog by our side.

If we have a young child at home, these will be among others the skills and abilities that will influence their emotional and social development, whether or not they have an excellent friendship with their canine.

They teach us to be responsible

Having a pet is a great way to teach responsibility to children. Usually when they are little they fall in love with these canines and do their best to keep them at home, an excellent opportunity to make them fulfill their obligations of care and feeding.

In this way, man's best friend can gradually make us internalize the sense of responsibility simply through his care, such as playing, eating, walking and brushing.

They give structure and routine to your day to day

Since our dog comes into our life we ​​have to adjust our schedules to fulfill our obligations as owners of it. However, it also brings us benefits because creating a regular diet and exercise routine will not only help our friend but also ourselves.

If we integrate it as our own and keep them in time, it will help us to relax and clear up after the workday and as everyone who has a dog will know, it will be impossible to skip these routines since they will always be in charge of reminding you.

They make us better people

We can learn from all animals and in this case, since we are talking about the dog, it would be no less. All the people who have had the opportunity to share their life with a canine will not only have acquired the capacity for responsibility and commitment that their care requires, but will also have learned patience, a sense of commitment and dedication and the generosity they need.

They also teach us not to focus on ourselves and to have to educate them as if we were their parents. This makes us learn to love nature and all the animals that surround us, so that as a result of this interaction we manage to become better people.

Clear the mind

In addition to having the ability to de-stress and calm down, they also help us avoid our problems or those derived from work, whether we want to or not, they will force us to comply with the care activities they need.

So we will have to go for a walk and play with them, this can be very beneficial for our well-being since we will have one more reason to take care of ourselves and be happy.

They can detect health problems

Although studies are still being carried out to verify the veracity of whether dogs are capable of detecting health problems such as cancer, there are already many real cases that support this idea.

According to some owners, their dogs were able to warn them that they were about to have metastasis or that they had breast or prostate cancer. Perhaps these canines can smell human cancer, what is clear is that there are already trainers that help them perform that function.

References

1. Wood L, Giles-Corti B, Bulsara M. The pet connection: pets as a conduit for social capital. Soc Sci Med 2005; 61: 1159-1173.
2. Hart LA. Methods, standards, guidelines, and considerations in selecting animals for animal-assited therapy. In: Fine AH, editor. Handbook on animal-assited therapy: theoretical foundations and guidelines for practice. Boston: Academic Press.
3. Gómez, LF, Atehortua, CG, & Padilla, SCO (2007). The influence of pets on human life. Colombian Journal of Livestock Sciences, 20 (3), 377-386.
4. Pappas S. (2013). Dog Bacteria Bring Potentially Beneficial Biodiversity To Owners' Homes, Study Shows. LiveScience.