DOGS ARE GOOD FOR YOU
By: Lesley Scott-Ordish

Lesley has been involved in a number of studies looking at the question of whether dogs are a health risk.

So what are the facts?

1. DOGS KEEP OWNERS FIT.
A very large sample of 1502 dog owners in 1977 found that 92% of dog owners said they took regular exercise which they would not take with out their dogs. A medical panel said this was of value in the lazy car-riding age in which we live and walking assists keep people physically fit.

2. DOGS MAY HAVE A PROTECTIVE ROLE IN HEART DISEASE.
Heart disease is still the main cause of death in many countries including the UK. Studies by Professor Aaron Katcher and others have found that stroking a cat or dog can lower the heart rate and that the owners have a longer survival rate after a heart attack than non dog owners.

3. DOGS MAKE POSITIVE CONTRIBUTIONS TO HEALTH AND HAPPINESS.
In the survey referred to (1 above) all respondents said that. on balance, their dogs made a positive contribution to their health and happiness. Although it was accepted that there is a degree of subjectivity in any survey based on self completed questionnaires, the criterion that he who feels well IS well must be valid in any attempt to evaluate overall health. Dog owners who believe themselves to be well, at the least, are unlikely to be a burden on the National Health Service which costs the tax payer millions of pounds each year.

4. ACQUIRING A NEW PET CAN BRING IMMEDIATE BENEFITS.
A further study published in the Royal Society of Medicine Dec.1991 confirms the above findings by showing that 71 people who acquire new pets from animal shelters said that minor complaints improved and that the effects continued to last for the 10 month period of the study and after the new attraction of ownership had passed.

5. INFECTION FROM PEOPLE - NOT DOGS!
In the same survey (1 above) less than 1% of owners reported infection during the previous 2 years which could be traced to contact with their dogs. In the same 2 year period, 79% reported some infection (even if only a cold, or 'flu') for which they blamed contact with other people.

6. PETS AS THERAPY - DOGS USEFUL IN HOSPITAL VISITING.
When PRO Dogs tried to introduce a scheme for regular visiting by friendly dogs to various institutions, including hospitals, in 1983, I was told "impossible". Now the PAT Dog scheme has become so popular that it is difficult to keep pace with demand. It is the numerically largest programme in Britain where dogs are used for the benefit of people in an organised free community service. Not only do the PAT Dogs, accompanied by their kindly owners, make regular visits but they are now requested increasingly to treat phobic patients or "prescribed" on a daily basis for some people who have become seriously withdrawn and lonely.

7. DOGS FOR PEOPLE WITH VISUAL AND HEARING DIFFICULTIES.
In the UK, people with severe loss of vision benefit from the invaluable service provided by their trained Guide Dogs for the Blind. Also people with impaired hearing are able to live fuller and more independent lives thanks to trained Hearing Dogs for the Deaf, introduced to the UK in 1982. Owners of these dogs find that other people are attracted to talk to them more easily because of the dogs and this reduces the loneliness and isolation which is too often associated with these handicaps.

8. DOGS TO BREAK DOWN THE LONELINESS BARRIER.
Other studies have shown that people out walking dogs have many more opportunities for social contact. Because of their dogs, strangers who would otherwise hesitate, find it easier to approach them. Certainly experience with the PAT Dog scheme has shown it is easier to walk into a strange ward or residential home with a dog - which immediately breaks the ice and encourages spontaneous comment - than to face the situation without one!

9. DOGS TO PROTECT AND DEFEND.
Dogs have long enjoyed the role of protector and defender of man. With increasing evidence of burglaries and attacks on property and even people, dogs have an even more valuable role to play. Police have pointed out that in urban areas, dogs provide warning not only for their owners homes but often for neighbouring properties. Dogs also give early warning of risk from fire and the lives of many people are saved annually by dogs raising the alarm.

The above are just some ways in which dogs are useful to their owners and to other people. Many more easily come to mind. Police and armed services rely increasingly on dogs, who are now employed also by Customs and Excise for their keen ability to sniff out illegal substances and explosives. Dogs are used in mountain rescue and disaster work and in daily service on farms, particularly to aid the hill farmer and his sheep.

What other animal is capable of serving us in so many ways?

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