LifeZette: Nearly everybody will smile while petting a dog. If the dog happens to plant a big kiss right on your hands or face, you will probably laugh and giggle, even while pushing the dog away. Did you know that dogs can bring more than a smile to your face, though? Science shows that they actually improve your health.
For years, one autistic teen named Cadence wanted a service dog. Knowing that this dog would improve the teen’s self-esteem and anxiety, Cadence’s mother applied for one over and over again. Every time, her mother kept telling Cadence the sad response — no.
While Cadence has high function as an autistic girl, she still struggles with emotions sometimes. Cadence needed the unconditional love of a dog to balance those moments and bring her that smile. After four years of lowered spirits and let-downs, Cadence finally got a service dog, and the teen couldn’t have been more excited.
The health benefits of dog ownership. For Cadence, a service dog will help improve her emotional health, and ultimately the physical side, too. Still, Cadence isn’t the only one who will benefit from owning a dog. Here are just a few ways that dogs can boost your health and bring you happiness:
Dogs strengthen your heart… MORE
My neighbor’s two mentally ill dogs are doing nothing to improve my health.
Dogs are guardian angels. I take my service dog everywhere. Everyone says hi to him and will actually ask how he’s doing. Sometimes I think that the people think the cart is self-propelled, because I rarely get even a secondary glance, unless they want to pet him, then they’ll ask me.
They’ll let ya know when Muzzies are around!
It’s a mutual emnity.
A couple days ago while out walking the pit bull with the kids, we headed to the preserve and off came the leash. We went down to the pond and she came out covered in mud nose to tail tip from hunting frogs. She was so happy it made me so happy to let her be so happy. The kids giggled. She looked like hell so we made a detour to hit another pond I know is cleaner to wash off some mud. Just when the happy level was nearly off the charts, the kids point her a mallard and his mate floating a couple feet away. WOW, she never seen ducks so close and made a dive, swam out clean! Then did a big dog shake all over the kids. It was a picture perfect walk. Added at least a day worth of life I’m certain.
My neighbor’s 4 barking, yapping, baying hellhounds do nothing positive for my mental health. I feel your pain, Irony.
I’m going to credit my dogs with helping me keep my sanity and therefore out of jail.
My Sophie was my second best friend next to jcdude.
I grew up with big dogs and middle-sized dogs and I love dogs. But…it’s their owners who drive me nuts. A dog is a smart animal and can be trained to do its thing in the same place — and ideally in the owners own yard. And stop putting your dogs’ feces in my recycling bin. It’s as bad as human waste.
I had a Chesapeake Bay that use to smile. Funnier than hell. That dog made my day everyday coming home from work. Died early. Cancer.
All dogs are service dogs. Waiting list???? Pfft.
There are no bad dogs. Just bad dog owners Lock them up and ignore them? You are creating a bad dog.
If you look at a dog as a “thing”you need to do Don’t get a dog.
Bad Brad. Didn’t hit Like on your post. Who could like that your dog died early? My Bernese did the same. Still tears me up.
Thank GOD for the wolf, and for giving humans enough brains to breed dogs from them. Canines give unconditional love, and the closet any human will ever come to that level of love… is for their dog.
closest…..you know what I meant
PHenry,
Nothing better than your dog smiling at you with a wagging tail after you’ve had a shit day. That dog was a bad ass hunter too. Took me awhile, but I know him and a couple others are waiting for me. Hopefully in a bad ass duck blind.
Bongopoofte
Yep. Correction not necessary. It’s smartphone stupidity that does miscorrections. They are smarter than us. I can hardly wait for them to drive our cars. That’ll be awesome. My next drive to Alexandria should have my Tundra should have me at sea heading to Egypt.
Doggie
Doggie
Doggie
Doggie
Doggie!
Tough to lose a loved one, Brad. Dogs are loved ones.
I’ve lost Ben and Liberty in the past few years. Horrible.
Eyes tearing up just typing this.
See Bongo? Stupid iPhone.
Got a worse one than that PHenry. Not near drunk enough to tell it. Makes Old
Yeller look like a comedy. Take it from me dogs are much smarter than us.
Bb. Trust you on that one.
That my dog runs about barking madly close to the command OBAMA makes Petey my best friend forever. Love that dog
Allow a cat owner to slip into this conversation, pls. My cats are my children. Particular ones keep me sane. When you hug a cat, you can feel your blood pressure go down. I am devastated when I lose one. The grief never goes away 🐈.
We lost our first Cheasapeak at age 14. We use to call him our no shit dog because he was NO SHIT. The family was young then and we lived in a young neighborhood. And Bud (fucking dog use to grab a Budweiser by the neck and drain it) was head baby sitter. Parents would party in our back yard while old Bud would keep the little kids herded on the front yard. No parent would try and retrieve their kid with out having my wife or I go get him. Bud didn’t trust adults. Bud was probably the best hunter I ever had a gun over. Bud died after a long happy life. Although not a pleasant death. I was ready to swear off dogs for a while but a good duck hunting buddy of mine was having none of it. One day he stopped by my shop and handed me a little black lab pup, didn’t say shit, turned around a walked out. Said dog became Arney and that’s who this story is about. I trained and trained with Arnie. Labs come in two flavors, spun and fat and lazy. Arnie was spun. Duck season 1 with Arnie, day one. At sunlight I’m blowing a flight of Green Heads in and about 100 yards out poor Arnie can’t control himself any longer. Like a shot out into the pond flaring the ducks that were 30 yards out of range. I was so pissed we left right then and there. Dropped by the local hardware store and picked up a shock collar. Next morning at O dark thirty, same thing. I fried that dogs ass all the way back to the blind. Last time he did that. That year Arnie retrieved over 350 ducks. Not that he changed his attitude. We came back from the blind one day and as he jumped out of the back of the truck he spooked a doe out of the brush. Bam, gone for over an hour. He did come back on his own with his tongue dragging on the ground. Arnie quickly became best friends with everyone in the family save me. I was the asshole. Until I picked up a shotgun. Then he was waiting in the back of the truck. That mutt made some amazing retrieves. If you have decent ears you can hear pellets hit ducks. One extremely windy day when he was older I whistled in a couple Pin Tails, I couldn’t quite get them in closer than 50 yards but I figured what the heck and took my best at the closest one. He locked his wings and sailed in the wind. Old Arnie looked at me and I yelled no, but Arne was gone like a shot. 30 minutes later Arnie came back with that Duck. He finally got old enough that he could no longer be hunted. He became the wifes constant companion. He seemed to want little to do with me. one Saturday we woke up and old Arnie wasn’t doing so well. Labored breathing couldn’t stand up. He made an effort to climb up in my lap. He was laying at the foot of a recliner I was sitting in. I lifted him up in my lap as the wife was calling the vet. He licked my arm a couple times and packed it in.
Brad, I don’t have the words.
BugGun, I guess we’ve both been there.
Amen, brother.
Dogs are vermin.
Oh, I’m very much aware I’m in the minority here. But dogs are disgusting animals. If you want one polluting your house, that’s your business. But don’t think everyone is fine with that disease-ridden beast running up to them. Or shitting in their yard. Or howling at all hours. Or digging in their trash can.