Getting a dog doesn't make you healthier; it only delivers these perks. James Serpell, a University of Pennsylvania animal ethics professor, studied pet owners in the U.K. for 10 months following adoption.
Dog and cat owners reported a significant reduction in minor health issues like headaches, insomnia, indigestion, and nasal pain in the first month and throughout the research.
Our internal health benefits from having a dog. Dust is in the air, on the floor, and on surfaces no matter how clean your home is.
In 2018, biostatistician Alexandra Sitarik and colleagues gathered dust samples from 54 family homes—half of which had a dog and half without—when the dog was first brought home and a year later.
By one year, households with dogs had “a higher percentage of variation in bacterial dust composition,” including Moraxella, Porphyromonas,
Nothing wrong with this. The “Microbiota Hypothesis” argues that dust from dog-owned homes may change the gut microbiota to lessen allergy and asthma risk.
A large body of evidence shows that young children raised with dogs are less likely to develop allergies, eczema, or asthma, which typically occur together as the allergic triad.