Benefits of Having a Dog Analysis Essay

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Dogs are considered a man’s best friend. Owning a dog is beneficial as it provides balance,
emotional well-being, and unconditional love. It is also a great pleasure to spend time in the
company of these furry creatures. Dogs provide people with meaningful social support, improve
physical and psychological state, increase the level of happiness and decrease stress.

The Benefits of Having a Dog are Numerous

 Firstly, dogs promote health. They help people cope with anxiety and improve an overall mental
health, not to mention a number of other health benefits. In addition, dogs are widely used to
help people recover from very serious illnesses including cerebral palsy and insult.
 Secondly, dogs provide social benefits as they influence their owner’s well-being. The pets
make people happier, provide greater self-esteem and prevent depression. Dog owners are
better socialized and are closer to important people in their lives than those who have no dogs.
 Thirdly, dogs prevent stress and decrease it. These animals are considered masters at helping
people feel calm and relieve stress. Dogs are the best listeners and they do not care about
human actions and thoughts. When a person is upset or sad, a dog can give a stress outlet
helping to cheer up.
 Fourthly, dogs improve mood. Stroking a dog may reduce blood pressure and bring balance to
our emotional state. The eyes of a favorite dog help people who are in a bad mood.
 Fifthly, dogs ensure home security and safety. Dogs are extremely protective when a stranger
comes to the door. In addition, a barking dog may put off many potential burglars and intruders.
 Sixthly, dogs have a favorable influence on children. Children who own dogs perform better at
school and are more successful. Moreover, bringing up, feeding and regular walks create a
sense of responsibility.
Dogs have a positive influence on human health, emotional state. They add to the development of
communication skills and the sense of responsibility as well as play an important role in child
fostering and family relationships. In addition, dogs increase feelings of well being and devotion,
ensure safety and even save people’s lives.

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Dogs are among the most popular pets. These animals are usually called a man’s best friends and
there is a reason for it. Dogs’ intelligence, loyalty, affection and devotion are incredibly rewarding.
Owning a dog may raise spirits. In addition, having a walk together, relaxing at home together or
being greeted by a happily wagging tail engenders a sense of well-being. These are the main
reasons why so many people own dogs. What is more important is the fact that pets can play an
important social role in people’s lives. Lonely people can get a dog in order to overcome social
isolation. In addition, dogs improve people’s health, help to communicate and break the ice. Hence,
having a dog is beneficial as dogs provide people with emotional well-being, balance and
unconditional acceptance of who we are.
Despite the fact that dogs provide meaningful social support, serving to improve owners’ happiness,
well-being, and even their physical health there are not many studies on whether all people benefit
from owning pets to the same degree or not and whether pets provide social support for people in
general (McConnel et al., 2011). It has long been known that dogs bring a lot of pleasure to people
who own them. However, there is little awareness of the advantages and disadvantages of having a
dog, but it is worth knowing about. Our research is focused on investigation of the advantages of
having a dog as a pet.

Health Promotion
To start with, it should be underlined that these furry friends help to cope with anxiety and dealing
with them improves an overall mental health, not to mention a number of other health benefits. A
research carried out for over 25 years has shown that a close contact with dogs can lower blood
pressure and reduce anxiety. A dog, of course, is not the only way to solve problems, but it can help
to monitor blood pressure. The study of 240 married couples showed that the owners of dogs had
lower blood pressure and heart rate than people who did not own them. The similar study of children
showed that there was a significant reduction of blood pressure in children suffering from high blood
pressure when they stroked a dog (or any other pet) or played with it. Moreover, the children showed
improvement in the general mental state, they became more obedient and easier to adapt socially.
In addition, people who own a pet, spend more time outdoors, and have a stronger immune system.
Dogs can even help in social life helping people stay active and energetic. It has been investigated
that keeping a dog may also reduce the levels of bold triglyceride and cholesterol. Dog ownership is
considered to be one of the best predictors of survival from a heart attack. It is also believed that pet
ownership, dog ownership in particular, reduces national health expenditures (Headey, 1999).
Dogs are widely used to help people recover from very serious illnesses. For example, doctors all
over the world are amazed how pet dogs help children come out of a comma. There is a belief that
animal assisted therapy is a great breakthrough in medicine. However, the practice of using dogs as
a part of therapy dates back to the late 18th century, when these animals were introduced into
mental institutions to help in communication with patients with mental disorders, people in a state of
anxiety and those suffering from cardio-vascular dystopia. Such patients improved behavioral and
psychological indicators of anxiety in the presence of dogs. In addition, people in wheelchairs have
more positive emotions and easily communicate with strangers when they are accompanied by a
dog.
Another benefit of communication with animals is immune stimulatory effects of microorganisms,
which, in accordance with the hygiene hypothesis, may protect against allergies and autoimmune
diseases. Studies have shown that when a dog lived permanently in the house children were less
prone to develop an allergy to pets: only 19% of children with a dog in the house compared to 33%
of the total statistics of children whose parents did not keep pets. This is not the only surprising fact.
Much lower risk of eczema and other skin diseases and higher levels of certain chemicals in the
immune system were observed among children who were in close contact with animals, dogs in
particular. That allows health professionals to conclude that a stronger activation of the immune
system is a result of communication with our pet friends (Headey, 1999).
It was also revealed that dogs helped people with cerebral palsy and after insult. Dogs positively
influence the recovering of motor functions and mood. Children with Down syndrome are also
treated with the help of dogs. For example, in a medical center in Panama, which is under the
leadership of Mario Chang, doctors use specially trained dogs in a therapeutic practice that helps to
cope with mental and physical disabilities including Down syndrome, cerebral palsy and autism (Dog
Helps Boy Recover from Coma, 1992). Companion animals may provide unconditional love and
comfort to families with children suffering from autism. Most families reported that their children have
very close bonds with dogs and felt comfortable and relaxed with their pets.
The admirers of dogs state that dogs make people move more and in that way improve their health.
According to the study of 351 people aged 20 to 80 published a few years ago in the American
Journal of Preventive Medicine on average dog owners spend a far greater amount of time
performing moderate physical activity than those who do not have a dog (Your Pet and Your Health,
2011).
A study, which was attended by new owners of a Yorkshire terrier, showed a highly significant
reduction in minor health problems during the first month after the purchase of the puppy, and this
effect was maintained until the end of the study. Many Americans have even calculated the
percentage of survival of patients with the coronary heart disease, and concluded that the owners of
Yorkies were significantly less likely to die within a year of acute myocardial infarction as compared
to those who did not have a pet. In addition, older people started to spend considerably more time in
physical activity, and Yorkshire terriers were thus a necessary stimulus. These results suggest that
the acquisition of an animal can have a positive impact on human health and behavior, and have a
prolonged effect on the overall condition. It is a proven fact that cat and dog owners exhibit
noteworthy improvements in their self-reported physical and psychological health, compared with
those who don’t own a pet (Prokop & Tunnicliffe, 2010).

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Social Benefits
McConnel et al. (2011) worked out and held three experiments during which they examined how
people benefit from communication with dogs every day. It turned out that the advantages of having
a god are stronger when pets fulfill one’s social needs. As a result, scientists concluded that “pet
owners often experience greater well-being (e.g., greater self-esteem), exhibit healthier personality
characteristics (e.g., more conscientiousness), and show attachment styles that are less negative
towards the self (i.e., less fearful, less preoccupied)” (McConnel et al., 2011).
One more argument for keeping a dog as a pet is the fact that pets also influence their owner’s well-
being. People, who have dogs, seldom suffer from depression, are less lonely, have greater self-
esteem, and are happier. Dog owners are better socialized and are closer to other important people
in their lives as well as receive more support from them. Scientists found that people and their
animals have a strong connection and those who have “healthier personalities seem to extend their
general social competencies to relationships with their pets, and that pets with healthier personalities
fulfill their owners’ social needs better” (McConnel et al., 2011).
Dogs also provide their owners with social support. Dogs are good assistants for people with
disabilities. In many countries, the degree of acceptance of dog guides at public facilities is rather
high. Researchers find a number of benefits from this co-work. Not all people know that dogs have
been used to assist people with a variety of physical and mental diagnoses since the 9th century.
The first documented example of the therapeutic use of animals “occurred in the 9th century in
Gheel, Belgium, where animals were part of the ‘therapie naturelle’ provided for the handicapped by
members of the community” (Bustad & Hines, 1984, p.20).

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Owners and pets’ well-beings are closely related. It was studied that there is “a link between care for
sick pets and owner health” (Your Pet and Your Health, 2011). When a person provides veterinary
care for a pet he/she can improve his/her own health. It can be explained by the fact that when
“patients like these report being more vigilant about their own condition because they think of their
pet’s condition frequently” (Your Pet and Your Health, 2011). They become more interested in
knowledge of the disease, focus more on treatment provided to their pets and to themselves and do
the right things. A pet’s disease, that in most cases may be the same as their owners` disease,
makes them think not just about