Owning a pet can help you live longer! If you are a pet owner, you have most likely discovered that an animal can bring happiness, love and companionship within your household. Apart from these invaluable benefits, research seems to indicate that a pet may help you in preventing heart disease. These preventive effects are heavily dependant on which animal you decide to adopt.
With that said, research seems to favour one type of animal and that would be the dog. One professor from Harvard Medical School states that people who own a dog have generally better health than those who do not.
One would ask, how would owning a dog improve your health? One may only hypothesise about this correlation. One can argue that people who own a dog are more likely to engage in physical activities, reducing the risk of cardiovascular diseases. It is clear to see that owning a dog does indeed make you healthier as you would be meeting your daily exercise needs, reducing the chances of higher blood pressure and cholesterol levels. In addition to these important health benefits, dogs provide very good company especially if you live alone. Having an enthusiastic face and a wagging tail after a day’s work is enough to uplift your mood and spirits. In this respect, one can conclude that owning a dog is also good for one’s psychological health.
Owning a pet is obviously not a solution for better health and you shouldn’t really get a dog to protect yourself against heart disease. With that said, if you already have a dog, you can benefit from the health upsides.
Owning a dog is also beneficial when we are stressed. Research indicates that the heart rate and blood pressure of dog owners tend to rise less in moments of stress, impacting their health less negatively. Research also indicates that kids who are exposed to dogs are likely to have fewer allergies and fewer chances of getting eczema. They also tend to have fewer sick days.
Before getting a pet, ensure that you are financially prepared since a dog costs money and you will also need to allocate time for it. A dog needs to go out for walks, fed, groomed and taken to the vet when necessary.
Obviously, if you can cater to these commitments, you can benefit from physical activity by going outside, walking and playing fetch. Both your dog and health will benefit from it!
