Many people love dogs. During the pandemic, many people stayed home more, thus allowing them more time to consider having a pet. In fact, you may have heard that many people have turned to fostering and adopting cats and dogs of all shapes, sizes and ages in the past year. Dogs, specifically, are in high demand with some shelters reporting being empty for the first time since they have set up shop!
For those who do own a dog, this article may help you understand the effects of dogs on your health.
Acknowledgement
By writing this article, we acknowledge that many people love dogs, however do not have the time, nor the means to own a dog. In fact, not everybody would benefit from having a dog. Depending on one’s social context, having a dog may, in fact, increase one’s stress, productivity and sleep.
Impact of Dogs on Stress (1,2,4)
A pilot study conducted in 2005 compared stress levels of health professionals when engaging in silent rest in comparison to human-animal interactions. It was found that when comparing 20 minutes of silent rest to 5-20 minutes of playing with a therapy dog, the therapy dog had a greater impact on reducing circulating stress hormones (cortisol, epinephrine, and norepinephrine). Further, a similar study noted that both blood pressure and heart rate also dropped significantly after interacting with a friendly dog! Moreover, the stress hormones dropped more significantly when the dog was a familiar one.
Another study looked at the effects of social support from a dog on stress modulation in male children with insecure attachment styles. The conclusions the authors drew from this study were:
“We conclude that male children with insecure-avoidant or disorganized attachment profit more from the presence of a therapy-dog than of a friendly human under social stress. Our findings support the assumption that the increasing practice of animal-assisted education is reasonable and that dogs can be helpful assistants in education/special education, since stress interferes with learning and performance in students.”
Beetz et al. (2012)
Impact of Dogs on Productivity (5)
Having a dog may allow you to feel supported and motivated. In fact, college-aged dog owners were found to have higher overall productivity, academic performance, and community involvement compared to students who did not own a dog. These findings have been attributed to the reduced stress hormone levels, as well as the observed increase in mental and physical well-being that comes with being a dog-owner.
However, we must acknowledge that there were several flaws to this study. Firstly, participants were only allowed to partake in the study if they had no previous diagnosed emotional conditions or learning disorders. This may signify that people who have ’emotional conditions’ or learning disorders may not benefit from increased productivity. Additionally, emotional conditions were not defined in the study. Secondly, the study has not been peer-reviewed. The study is solely posted as a pdf on the online library portal. This signifies that experts have not reviewed and accepted this study. Finally, the data was solely collected through self-reported quantitative questionnaires, which allows the reader to question the validity of the responses.
Impact of Dogs on Social Support and Sleep (1,3,6,7,8)
Having a dog may signify that one will walk more (see next paragraph for those who “wheel”) socialize more, and sleep more! In a study looking at the physical, social, and psychological benefits of dog ownership, the authors found that:
Interaction between humans and dogs is a mechanism that can enhance the physical and psychological health of elderly citizens and promote a social support network between dog owners
Knight & Edwards (2008)
Within this study, it is important to note that the authors did not provide many details about participants’ demographic information, with the exception of gender and age. Many details were provided regarding the number of walks per day and the number of dogs owned. However, more information regarding average income, education, ethnicity would have been relevant to this study to understand whether the positive effects of dog ownership may only be for people within a certain social class.
With that in mind, owning a dog has been found to allow people to move more, to be more positive, to release oxytocin (the love-hormone), and to develop new friendships. Finally, in a 2018 study, the authors theorized that because dog owners usually walk their dogs just before going to bed, this may have an effect on the duration and quality of the sleep.
The Role of Dogs for People Living with Visual, Physical, or Hearing Impairments (9,10)
People living with visual and physical impairments may benefit functionally and psychologically from having a service dog.
“Results indicate that having a service dog was related to better emotional functioning, social functioning, and work/school functioning. Areas with no significant relationship with having a service dog included social companionship, sleep, and anger.”
Rodriguez et al. (2020)
Interestingly, these finding differ from those done with able-bodied participants. In fact, dog ownership did not impact social support, nor sleep in this study. Looking at the differing findings between people living with and without disabilities are always important to consider before making broad statements about a study’s findings.
Another study looking at the impact of owning a service dog on the quality of life for individuals with physical and hearing disabilities found:
“evidence that service dogs not only improve overall independence of their owners, but also enhance their personal fulfilment.“
Hall et al. (2017)
While we appreciate these findings, it is important to note that acquiring a service dog is an extremely lengthy process as the waiting lists and assessments are often very long. Many people living with a disability may know all the benefits, but have to wait several years before getting one.
Conclusion
For those who do not own a dog, interacting with dogs seem to have an effect on stress reduction and oxytocin (the love-hormone) release. Able-bodied people who own a dog may also experience an increased social support network, and better sleep. Some of the findings relating to able-bodied dog-owners may need to be taken with caution as they may raise the question as to whether a person who decides to own a dog may be predisposed to having a privileged lifestyle, thus already being more positive, less stressed, and more productive, etc. Finally, people living with a physical, visual, or hearing disability may benefit functionally and psychologically from having a service dog.
References
- Barker, S. B., Knisely, J. S., McCain, N. L., & Best, A. M. (2005). Measuring stress and immune response in healthcare professionals following interaction with a therapy dog: a pilot study. Psychological reports, 96(3 Pt 1), 713–729.
- Beetz, A., Julius, H., Turner, D., & Kotrschal, K. (2012). Effects of social support by a dog on stress modulation in male children with insecure attachment. Frontiers in psychology, 3, 352.
- Beetz, A., Uvnäs-Moberg, K., Julius, H., & Kotrschal, K. (2012). Psychosocial and psychophysiological effects of human-animal interactions: the possible role of oxytocin. Frontiers in psychology, 3, 234.
- Friedmann, E., Katcher, A. H., Thomas, S. A., Lynch, J. J., & Messent, P. R. (1983). Social interaction and blood pressure. Influence of animal companions. The Journal of nervous and mental disease, 171(8), 461–465.
- Gerace, E. (2017). The association between owning domestic dogs as pets and the productivity amongst college students.
- Knight, S., & Edwards, V. (2008). In the company of wolves: the physical, social, and psychological benefits of dog ownership. Journal of aging and health, 20(4), 437–455.
- Mein, G., & Grant, R. (2018). A cross-sectional exploratory analysis between pet ownership, sleep, exercise, health and neighbourhood perceptions: the Whitehall II cohort study. BMC geriatrics, 18(1), 176.
- Wood, L., Martin, K., Christian, H., Nathan, A., Lauritsen, C., Houghton, S., Kawachi, I., & McCune, S. (2015). The pet factor–companion animals as a conduit for getting to know people, friendship formation and social support. PloS one, 10(4), e0122085.
- Hall, S. S., MacMichael, J., Turner, A., & Mills, D. S. (2017). A survey of the impact of owning a service dog on quality of life for individuals with physical and hearing disability: A pilot study. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 15(1), 59-59. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12955-017-0640-x
- Rodriguez, K. E., Bibbo, J., & O’Haire, M. E. (2020). The effects of service dogs on psychosocial health and wellbeing for individuals with physical disabilities or chronic conditions. Disability and Rehabilitation, 42(10), 1350–1358. https://doi.org/10.1080/09638288.2018.1524520
