Not only can dogs lower your stress levels and blood pressure, it's also believed they can speed up recovery time from illness. Discover even more fascinating facts...

Mutual companionship is one of the main reasons for owning a dog but sharing your life with one could also be among the best things you do for your and your children’s health and well-being. Here are seven life-enhancing benefits of dog ownership.

1. Lower stress

Who hasn’t felt their anxiety fade when rhythmically stroking a dog? (And your pet will probably enjoy the attention too.) While friends and family mean well, human relationships can bring stress. Owning a well-behaved dog, however, provides a real opportunity to relax – whether that is patting, stroking or going for a long walk together.

2. Improve sociability

Now that so many of us connect with our friends online, we risk losing the simple art of conversation. Not so for dog walkers: dogs are brilliant conversation starters and many first-time dog owners are genuinely amazed by how many new people they meet.

“Animals have the ability to create connections that transcend racial, cultural, physical and socioeconomic differences,” says Dr Sandra McCune, scientific leader in human-animal interaction at the Waltham Centre for Pet Nutrition. “Simply seeing people out walking dogs can also make a neighbourhood feel safer, particularly for women.”

Of course, dog walking benefits your pet as well. Socialising with other dogs can help your pet’s own social skills and provide stimulation – especially if they are the lone dog in your household.

3. Enhance childhood

Caring for a pet helps children develop empathy and having a dog in the home also reduces children’s risk of developing respiratory and ear infections, gastroenteritis and some allergies.

“Better health means better school attendance,” says Dr McCune. “One pilot study found that children aged five to eight from pet-owning families achieved two to three extra weeks of school attendance.” Breeds that have an easy temperament are particularly suited to sharing a home with children. To ensure mutual happiness, it is important to choose a breed that will thrive in a family environment.

4. Encourage exercise

Owning a dog can be a real game-changer for activity levels – particularly among elderly people whose exercise opportunities reduce with age. More exercise leads to fewer health problems: an extensive UK study in 1991 showed that new pet owners, when compared with people without pets, increased their exercise and had fewer minor health problems.

For your dog, a daily walk is essential, although the length will vary according to their breed, age and size. It is important to bear in mind your dog’s exercise needs and not to over-exercise them when they are still growing or in old age.

5. Support dementia care

Animal-based therapy is becoming popular in residential care homes because stroking a pet has been shown to decrease agitated behaviours and increase social interaction in patients with dementia. Touch is one of the last senses to be affected by the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, so stroking a pet can bring enormous pleasure.

The Alzheimer’s Society charity encourages people with dementia to keep their pets for as long as they can look after them safely and care for them adequately, because caring for a pet can provide a reassuring routine as well as helping to alleviate isolation.

6. Speed up recovery

Pet ownership is a worthwhile reason to get well again after illness or surgery, and brief interactions with a dog and handler have also been shown to improve tolerance to pain. “Being around a dog can decrease both physical and emotional perceptions of pain in children,” says Dr McCune.

7. Lower blood pressure

A study in 2002 showed that people with a dog or a cat had lower resting heart rates and blood pressure measures at the beginning of an experiment than those without a pet. Both groups were then asked to perform a stressful task – when it finished, the pet owners’ heart rate and blood pressure returned to normal more quickly.

“Pet ownership also makes a significant difference to cardiac survival rates,” says Dr McCune. “A study showed that 94 per cent of heart patients with dogs survive heart attacks, compared with 72 per cent without dogs.” This is more evidence that canine companions can transform lives.

Proud to be feeding generations of guide dogs

This winter, Royal Canin will be donating £1 to Guide Dogs for every promotional bag of Breed diet sold in participating pet shops across the UK.*



For more information, visit royalcanin.co.uk/guidedogs

*Terms and conditions apply. £1 will be donated to Guide Dogs for the first 10,000 promotional bags of 1.5kg, 7.5kg or 12kg purchased from the ROYAL CANIN® Breed Health Nutrition range between 9 October and 29 December 2017. Available in participating pet shops across the UK. While stocks last. ROYAL CANIN® has the right to withdraw this promotion at any time. The customer will not be charged for this promotion. Supporting Guide Dogs, a charity registered in England and Wales (209617) and Scotland (SC038979).