Science Explains The Benefits To Having Dog As A Pet

As if we needed science to provide evidence that dogs make life better, a new study has found tremendous benefits for babies who grow up with a dog.

Anita Kozyrskyj, a pediatric epidemiologist at the University of Alberta, set out to find out exactly why two decades of research has linked growing up with a dog with lower rates of allergies, according toNature. To do so, she looked at the babies’ poop.

Examination found a higher diversity of microbes in the fecal matter of babies fortunate enough to share a household with a pup. More microbes help develop a stronger immune system, meaning exposure to germs is actually quite a good thing. Two of the specific microbes found, Ruminococcus and Oscillospira, are linked to lower risk of allergic disease and obesity, respectively.

This effect doesn’t happen with adults who get dogs, though. Research presented at last year’s annual symposium of the Society for Animal Welfare Administrators found an increase in mood for new dog owners, but no change in microbe diversity. Still, they had lower levels of inflammatory cytokines related to depression, dementia, diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular disease.

“The dogs clearly impacted people’s emotions and immune systems, but not through the microbiome,” study leader Charles Raison, a psychiatrist at the University of Wisconsin, toldNature.

While Kozyrskyj’s study is too small for scientists to outright prescribe dog ownership, Rob Knight, a microbiologist at the University of California, San Diego, says the evidence points in that direction. So we’re willing to go out on a limb and say get yourself a dog, even if you don’t have a newborn.