Savvy Pets, 11/8/19: Dog People Live Longer … and a Pup Gallery of Pix

This week, we look at the amazing benefit of being a dog person (owner). I started life as a cat person (my first kitties were Boots and Mynee, as in Eeny, Meeny, Mynee, Moe), until the allergies set in. I didn’t become a dog person until after graduate school, with my first pup (Toby, an English Cocker Spaniel) and then Ginger, the Wonder Toy Poodle, who taught me so much about life. Now we are blessed with our Westie, Hey Buddy (who’s an old soul) and our Lhasa Apso, Bon Bon (who appears to be a new soul).

What’s so special about owning or living with a dog?

Dog People Live Longer. But Why? was written by Angus Chen for NPR.org, 26 October 2019. READER DISCLAIMER: This article applies to cat people too … and mostly all pet people! Next week, we’ll look at the benefits of living with cats!

Hugging a dog is one life’s greatest joys. Getting to see fur on four legs and a wagging tail is like experiencing a love drug — quite literally.

Dogs and humans that interact with each other get a jolt of oxytocin, the so-called “cuddle hormone.” And, if you get to look at dogs and hug them every day, you just might live longer than people who don’t have to clean animal hair off their clothes, according to a pair of studies out this month.

The studies, published in the journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, suggest that dog ownership is linked to a 21% reduction in the risk of death — over the 12-year period studied — for people with heart disease. Those studies, along with a body of literature linking dogs to good health, all point toward one thing, says Dr. Dhruv Kazi, a cardiologist and health economist at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School. Kazi wrote an accompanying editorial for the new studies but was not involved with the research.

“When you look at the big picture and look at all the evidence around dog ownership and cardiovascular health, it’s pretty clear the signal is real and likely causal,” he says. In other words, he’s convinced getting a dog improves your health — especially for those with heart disease.

READ MORE: Dog People Live Longer. But Why?

Here’s a little gallery of pups in my life and their happy people. Look at the joy they bring, now and forever!!! Next week, we look at kitties in our lives!