Dogs are basically walking and barking fur balls with endless energy and enthusiasm. Dogs teach one to be kind and patient, just like they are with many. They also teach one to be more attuned to what others are feeling and experiencing since dogs do get sad and irritated if their owners are feeling those emotions as well. But overall being around them just somehow lights one up but there are also legit benefits to having a dog:
Exercise: When one thinks about owning a dog then this is the first thing that strikes their mind- that they will have to take it out on walks and play with it. But doing all these for your dog also means that you are an active participant in it. So you can get at least half an hour to two hours of workout every day which will definitely help in lowering chances of incurring cardiovascular diseases.
Stay Immune: Dogs, as everyone knows, are covered in germs and so having one means that those bacteria also enter into not only your home but also in your body causing you to develop immunity against them and so over time you will fall less ill comparatively to other non-dog owning people.
Resistant to Allergies: In lieu of the above point, dogs can be a trigger for people having allergies but growing up in a house with a dog makes kids less prone to develop allergies over time. This is just done through the process of adjustment where the body learns to adapt according to the environment it is put in.
Active Social Life: I am sure we all have seen advertisements and movies about how dogs help their owner socialize with the opposite sex. The catch is that it’s true. It has been observed that people who own dogs are less likely to be received as a threat by others and moreover people are more readily willing to engage them in conversations. Apart from human social interaction, it has been seen that even if you live alone, having a dog has the same emotional significance as being friends with another human.
Happy Life: It is a commonly known fact that dog owners suffer less from depression than non-dog or non-pet owners. Dogs are a routine responsibility and so having one will make even depressed people climb out of bed to take care of one. Additionally, dogs just radiate happiness and spread positivity around the house. In fact, it has been seen that just looking at your pet increase the flow of oxytocin (the feel-good chemical) in your brain.
Better Heart Health: All the above points seem to indicate that owning a dog leads to better heart health. It has been observed that the act of just petting a dog lowers blood pressure and heart rate, thus calming a person. Also consequently dog owners get better sleep during night time and also have lower cholesterol levels.
Cancer Detection: Dogs are known for their sharp senses and that is why they are used in police work. Dogs are also trained to smell cancer as they have the ability to smell cancer and there have been stories of owners who discovered that a lump or mole in their body was cancerous since they noticed their dogs were sniffing or licking that.
Less Stress at Work: This is the most obvious benefit if having a dog and most companies are catching on to this and allowing their employees to bring their dogs to work. So that while working they can interact with their pet and take it on walks or play with it in breaks. So when they come back they have more energy to work and less stress. All of it leads to greater productivity and greater job satisfaction. The contrast has been observed as well, with non-pet people suffering from increasing stress levels.
Find out about your personality: It has been noted that the kind of dog you own tells a whole lot about your personality. A study conducted in England stated that people who owned toy dogs were more intelligent whereas people with Bulldogs and Dalmatians were generally conscientious. But overall, dog owners were found to be more outgoing and friendly. It should be noted that the opposite is true as well and that dogs do take on personality traits of their owners as well. So be careful of how you behave with and around it.
More Empathetic: It has been found that dog owners had higher empathy than those who didn’t own dogs. This is because dogs demand kindness just as they give it to you. They are playful and owners soon learn to be in tune with how their dogs are feeling- whether it is happy, sad, angry or disturbed.
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Dogs teach one to be kind, loving a helpful as well as to enjoy life to the brim and so having these furry friends around will just enrich your life. But as is said, always adopt, don’t shop from pet farms and factories.
