Not only do pets keep us company but they bring physical and mental health benefits.

Dogs can help owners make new friends which reduces their likelihood of loneliness.

The physiological benefits of dog ownership could reduce a country's overall health bill.

Dog ownership has increased dramatically in many western countries. For example, in the UK there has been an increase from around 8.3 million in 2011 to 13.5 million in 2025. That means that approximately 29% of UK adults own a dog!

At least partially this increasing trend of owning a dog is linked to millennials being more likely to have children later in life. It may be that a dog acts as training for becoming parents. Whilst there may be ‘practical’ reasons for adopting a dog, there are other benefits of having a furry friend.

Dogs as a social catalyst

There is evidence that social isolation can be a risk factor for health and mortality. Equally, research clearly shows that friendships and social support act as protective factors for well-being. Dog owners have been proven to talk more to other dog owners and so dogs can be a catalyst for community interaction. Casual exchanges about the dogs such as ‘Oh, how lovely she is’ may lead to an extended conversation. In Western Australia it was found that over 40% of pet owners got to know people in their immediate community as a result of their pet. And naturally, knowing people within your local community is an antidote to social isolation. Thus, dogs can act as a bridge between individuals and social engagement.

The furry friend himself can also reduce loneliness as the owner benefits from someone to talk to and share their time with. Interestingly, dog owners have been found to be more willing to talk to their pet than they are to a confidant, especially if it is linked to some kind of disclosure. Therefore, a dog as a close confidant may help the owner's psychological health, especially one who doesn’t have a partner, as people with dogs are happy to confide in them.

Physiological benefits

Having a furry friend has been linked to decreased blood pressure and reduced risks of heart attacks. Furthermore, they have been linked with improved cardiovascular disease survival in treated elderly with consistently elevated blood pressure. This may not seem to surprising to a dog owner, as they know that they will have to take their dogs for walks, which means the owner also gets exercise. Having a dog can increase the amount of time an owner spends outdoors, which in itself is known to be beneficial for cardiovascular health. In fact, just the mere presence of a dog has been found to lower heart rate and blood pressure more than the presence of friends or family during stressful situations. These are all reasons why the American Heart Association has stated that dog ownership may have a causal role in reducing cardiovascular disease risk.

But it is not just the individual dog owner that benefits from having a dog but also society. Having a dog can help reduce the number of people seeking out medical care for issues related to blood pressure and cardiovascular disease. Additionally, dog owners who walk their dogs 5 times or more in a given week show a lower incidence of obesity and this amounts to huge savings for national health care systems.

No doubt, pets play an important part in many people’s lives throughout the world. Bearing in mind the growing body of evidence that it has a positive impact on mental and physical well-being, surely everyone deserves a fur-baby in their lives.

© Psychology Today