We all know being greeted by our furbabies after a long day, but did you know they can sense/smell our distress? Recent studies have shown that, not only can they sense our distress, but they may begin to take on your stress and want to help make you feel better.
A great example is with our very independent husky who often keeps to himself during downtime, but whenever anyone who is near him is upset, he will not leave them alone – this even includes cuddles!
And more than not, they are successful in improving our moods and studies show they can even prolonging our lives by about 2 years. It’s known that dogs are able to contribute to the release of endorphins and other happy hormones – the brains natural anti-depressant. Conversely, they also lower your cortisol levels – your stress hormone – as well as your cholesterol, essentially reducing your chances of cardiovascular issues and higher recover rates after surgeries.
These positive effects of dogs have even spread to children in hospitals, where the children were observed to be a lot happier when the dogs arrived and they could pet them & were always waiting in anticipation for the next visit – the hormones listed above can even have an impact on the recovery of the child because they can boost their immune system to help fight off their illness!
It is becoming more and more popular to get dogs for emotional support, whether trained or just to be there for us. They can assist us with depression, anxiety, PTSD, panic attacks, and many other mental health struggles. They can even support us when we are in public and we are triggered. Sometimes they are trained to pick up your panic attacks, etc. before you even know it’s happening so, if your dog has the proper training, they know that’s their cue for their training to kick into gear – a lot of times it helps reduce or even prevent the emotional attack.
These are only the psychological aspects of owning a dog – there are loads of physical health benefits we can thank them for!
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