At the end of the following post, I guarantee that there will be no question for you about why you need a dog.
1. Your dog feels the same pain that you do.
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The Goldsmith College published a study showing that many dogs try to approach those who are crying or stressed by some problem. This shows that dogs are empathetic and share in our pain!
2. Dogs are able to detect cancer in the human body.
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Thanks to their incredible sense of smell, dogs have been proven to detect lung cancer with 70-99% accuracy depending on the stage.
3. They reduce workplace stress.
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The International Journal of Workplace Health Management proved with a study that employees who bring their dogs to work stress less and are happier at their workplace simply because their dog hangs around them.
4. They help keep babies healthy by getting dirty.
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Another study proved that children who grow up with dogs are actually healthier than those who grow up without a dog. The reason is very simple: dogs don’t care about getting dirty, so children early encounter pathogens while their immune system develops, which it recognizes and later easily overcomes.
5. They help you stay fit.
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Children who grow up with a dog move much more and are more active than their dogless peers, according to a University of London study. After all, it’s more pleasant to jog with our best friend than alone…
If I still haven’t convinced you why you need a dog, just listen!
6. It helps you be more social.
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The British Medical Journal concluded that dogs act as “social catalysts,” dog owners approach each other more easily and the distance between people decreases.
7. Helps prevent childhood eczema development.
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It may be surprising, but a dog can be useful even if the child is allergic. A study proved that children under one year old living with a dog are much less likely to suffer from the chronic and annoying skin condition, eczema.
8. Reduce the risk of developing heart disease.
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According to preliminary studies by the American Heart Association, dog owners have a lower risk of developing heart disease. The reason is simple here as well and relates to two previous statements: we move more, and dogs reduce workplace stress. This claim has not yet been empirically proven, but we dog owners know it's true :).
9. Dogs help autistic children integrate.
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The world is a very stressful place for an autistic child, which non-autistic people find hard or impossible to understand. Fortunately, the dog does! It has been proven that a therapy dog in the family can reduce cortisol (stress hormone) levels in autistic people. This not only calms them but also makes it clear that they have a true friend.
10. The dog helps prevent the spread of violence.
Image source: theweek.com
School experiments based purely on observation have proven that children's empathy increases. During the experiment, dogs were brought into schools and children were taught that if you do not act violently toward a cute dog, then you do not need to act violently toward your fellow human beings either. The experiment proved to be successful.
Surely I don't need to explain further why you need a dog?
