By Ron M. Ayalon
Sep 6, 2012
Owning a dog is an excellent way to improve your health and wellbeing. Dogs are well known for providing physical companionship but the friendship between a dog and its owner can also help to provide peace of mind and improve a person's general health. Negative thoughts and emotion cause a build up of stress and over time this can result in age related disease. Feeling good and positive is as important as choosing the right foods and getting the right exercise and this is where dog owners are one step ahead.
What is it about dogs that can affect your health?
Dog owners have many opportunities to exercise with their dogs. Daily walks around the neighborhood can help you maintain your own physical wellbeing as well as your dogs. Playing ball and other physical activities with your dog will also make you healthier and stronger. Your walks may also turn into social outings for both you and your dog, giving you an opportunity to meet other dog owners in your neighbourhood and at your local dog park.
Taking regular walking paths, routinely will not only provide your dog with vital exercise, but also help to improve your own health by providing you with …show more content…
Spending time with dogs can change the rate of your blood pressure, and other biomarkers of stress such as cortisol levels in the blood. Spending time with a dog helps bring us into the present moment and thus to a degree, frees us from the stress of our minds. For a little while we can appreciate the sunset, or the comfort of sitting on the couch, or even a program on TV, just a little bit more because the time is spent with a dog. The mind induces stress by capturing our attention on repetitious thought cycles, most often with negative underlying themes. By focusing on what's happening in the here and now - something a dog specializes at - we can dramatically reduce our stress