By Top Dog at Rescue Mutts Store
Having a dog teaches us patience, commitment and
selflessness. Caring for a dog takes a lot of responsibility and
commitment, and it also teaches us to be more patient and less selfish.
You also learn to be less focused on yourself as
pets can sometimes test the patience of even the most tolerant people.
Numerous studies have shown that owning
a dog benefits a person’s physical and mental well-being. So
check them out and then go hug your pup for making your life so much better.
Dogs offer us so much. They are a means of protection, and a
vessel of companionship. We often show our gratitude simplistically, providing
food and shelter, but sometimes an opportunity arises where we can pay our debt
to them. That is why we encourage rescue dogs over store-bought dogs or puppy
mills.
Caption: Rescue Mutts Store – Fun stuff for Dog Lovers
Health Benefits of Growing Up with Dogs
Children who had a dog during their first year of life had
31 percent fewer respiratory tract infections than kids who didn't live with a
dog, researchers found - Dr. Danielle Fisher, of St. John's Health Center in
Santa Monica, Calif., told the Los Angeles Times.
Kids from dog-owning homes also had fewer ear infections --
44 percent fewer than kids from non dog-owning homes -- and needed fewer
antibiotics, researchers found.
Just so much to love about older dogs!
They are simply open books—from the start, you know
important things like their full-grown size, personality and grooming requirements. All this information makes it easier to pick the right dog and
forge that instant love connection that
will last a lifetime.
Just looking at your dog will make you feel happier.
A 2009 study by Miho Nagasawa
of Azabu University in Japan found that one’s level of oxytocin (the
neurohormone that elicits feelings of happiness) raised intensely after
interacting with their dogs. And the only interaction they needed was to stare
into their dog’s eyes. Those who looked longer into their dog’s eyes had the
bigger dose of oxytocin. Fun fact: A dog’s willingness to meet
eyes with humans is one of the things that separates them from wolves.
They help us recover psychologically from a
crisis.
Dogs have been proven to help the recovery process of
soldiers going through post-traumatic stress disorder. One army veteran, Robert
Soliz, a former army specialist who served in Baghdad, found that engaging with
dogs in a program called “Paws for Purple Hearts” helped him get his
life back to the way it was before he left for war. When he returned, Soliz was
so traumatized that he couldn’t show any affection and struggled to even hug
his kids. After spending six weeks with a golden retriever, Soliz began to
feel more comfortable with his family.
Dogs can strengthen the bonds between humans
and make you happier.
A recent study at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine
at Tufts University found that people who have strong connections to their
pets also have social and relationship benefits. The researchers surveyed 500
18- to 26-year-olds and found that those who had
“strong attachment to pets reported feeling more connected to their
communities and relationships.” They also found that the
more attached a person was to an animal as a teenager and young
adult, the more empathetic and confident he or she was.