The Harvard Medical School is selling Get Healthy, Get a Dog: The health benefits of canine companionship. The health report highlights the health benefits of dog ownership and can be purchased online.
The report overview highlights that dogs offer unparalleled companionship and compiles research that shows that dogs offer health benefits. Some of the key benefits of dog ownership are:
- Reduces stress, increases mindfulness.
- Increases the activity of children and helps them feel secure and develop responsibilities.
- Improves the quality of life for seniors.
- Decreases isolation and increases social behaviours.
Through petting a dog, people can have lower blood pressure and decrease heart rate. Petting can also have a positive effect on the dog. Just as petting can benefit both parting, obesity and low activity rates often affect people and their dogs. The report has suggestions on how to increase physical exercise.
If someone is interested in getting a dog, the report helps walk people through the process of getting a suitable dog. If someone is unable to own a dog the report also contains information about service dogs and how one can benefit from contact with an appropriate service dog.
