When you get a pet, you indirectly improve your mental, emotional, and physical health. I’m not saying this because I’m a hopeless dog lover, which I proudly am, but because it so happens to be the truth. I just can’t understand someone saying ‘no’ to a furry companion.
If you’re one of those people not big on engaging one of these life-changing lovelies, you need to know what you are missing.
Exercising
Having pets, especially dogs has shown to result in people exercising more. Dog owners are more likely to get outside and take a walk, and usually more than once a day. In fact, a recent study showed that urban dog owners logged, on average, almost twice as much time walking than their non-pet-owning counterparts. In fact, adding a dog to the family is often what gets people off the couch and in their walking shoes in the first place.
Promotes Social Interaction
Social connections are essential to our long-term health. Often, people have a difficult time creating and maintaining relationships. Fortunately, pets serve as a great facilitator for making new connections and building social support, both of which are vital to our health, talk of excellent icebreakers,
“is that yours, aw, so cute, mine is…”
Lower Blood Pressure
When you pet your dog or cat, this sends a relaxing signal to your brain. The result is a drop in your blood pressure. If you undergo a lot of stress at work and are at a risk of having hypertension or high blood pressure – adopting a pet can be therapy for you.
Prevents allergies and boost immunity
One of the most important reasons why pets are good for you is that they prevent allergies and improve immunity. When kids grow up with dogs, their allergy risk decreases and their immune systems are stronger. Exposure to dogs during infancy, especially around the time of birth, strengthens a child’s immune system and makes them less vulnerable to a variety of allergic diseases. By their third birthdays, kids with dogs are less likely to suffer from atopic dermatitis and wheezing compared to their peers who don’t own dogs.
Detects illness
With a dog’s incredible sense of smell, they can detect diseases within a person’s body according to various researches. Cancer, narcolepsy attacks, the onset of seizures, fear or stress, along with low blood sugar, and migraines are among the health conditions that a hound’s acute sense of smell has been known to detect. Additionally, dogs can protect their owners during episodes of some of these conditions by standing over their lap when an attack starts, which prevents them from sliding out of a chair.
What are you waiting for, get a furry friend today?
