Dogs and How They Affect Us

It’s been scientifically proven that feeling securely attached to a living being can reduce a lot of stress and therefore positively affect your breathing rate, blood pressure and oxygen consumption. (Fricchione, 2016). When the owner looks into the eyes of his dog, a hormone called oxytocin, which is released by the pituitary gland that causes increased contraction of the uterus during labor and stimulates the ejection of milk into the ducts of the breasts, and therefore is responsible for the emotional bond between a parent and child, is boosted in both the dog and human (Fricchione, 2016). It’s been proven that the effect of the hormone oxytocin is truly dependent on the function of the structure that it binds to which is the receptor in the cell; which means that the difference in dogs’ ability to communicate is closely related to the variations in genetic material located close to the gene that codes for the oxytocin receptor (Mia E. Persson, 2017). In Australia, 5741 participants attended a screening clinic and it was found that pet owners had substantially lower blood pressures and body max index. Also, there was a study where 240 married couples with and without pets were assessed and it came about that both systolic and diastolic blood pressures were much lower for patients with a pet (Glenn N. Levine, et al., 2013).

Pet ownership has also been associated with a deceased risk of cardiovascular disease, however there is not yet a clear cause and effect relationship (School, n.d.). People who own canines have more of a motivation to go out for regular exercise as their pets must be taken out at least once a day therefore they get more exercise by simply walking for 30 minutes a day; this consequently improves their cardiovascular system and lowers their resting heart rate (Staff, n.d.). The increased physical activity increases the chance of surviving heart attacks, as the chances of surviving goes from 1 in 87 to 1 in 15 (Staff, n.d.). In 1980 a study was carried out to discover the effect dogs have on coronary heart problems. They looked at a group of patients who had been admitted to hospital for acute severe heart problems and after a one year follow up, they found out that pet owners are five times more likely to survive the effects of the heart problems than those who don’t own a pet: 6% of the pet owners died whereas 29% of non-pet owners died (Stanley Coren PhD, 2018). Ownership of a dog is also associated with low cholesterol and triglyceride levels (School, n.d.) however there is minimal data on the association of pet ownership and lipid levels. In the Australian study I mentioned earlier, the male, not female, dog owners had appreciably, yet not clinically, modesty lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels compared to the participants who didn’t own dogs. Triglycerides are a type of lipid found in the blood stream and if you regularly eat more calories than you can burn then you are likely to have high triglyceride levels which is called hypertriglyceridemia. (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, 2018). If you have high triglyceride levels then that may contribute to the hardening of the arteries or arteriosclerosis, thickening of the artery walls, which can increase the risk of a stroke, heart attack or heart disease (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, 2018).

However, there are definitely negative effects of having a dog around your household such as the parasites that can sometimes infect dogs and can be transferred onto humans (Fricchione, 2016). For example, Fleas, Coccidia and Giardia. These diseases that humans catch from their pets are called zoonotic illnesses. Even though these diseases are relatively avoidable by doing things like frequently washing your hands after touching dogs and going for regular vet checks, the diseases can be quite serious, especially if someone has a weak immune system, those with HIV/AIDS, the elderly and children. It’s also quite dangerous at times, especially for the elderly, to own dogs because there are five pet related fall risks: chasing a pet, animals underfoot, dogs who jump, falling while walking a pet and pet paraphernalia (Rehder, 2016).

Pet paraphernalia is when a pet’s toys and food dishes are left on the floor and they become a trip hazard especially because of the possibility of spillages. Yet these dangers can also be avoided and reduced by paying attention to the surroundings (Rehder, 2016). About 31.3% of falls linked with dogs were because of falls, additionally 21.2% of those falls were caused by being pushed or pulled by a dog (Stevens JA, 2010).

In a questionnaire I created and gave out to my whole school and staff, I obtained the results that 52.3% of 172 participants have been harmed by a dog or know someone who has been harmed and 45.3% said they have not; I was extremely surprised with these results as was not aware of how many canine related injuries happen especially because this survey was only answered by 172 people. Though there are dangers with owning a dog, the impact dogs such as guide dogs have on those who have a disability in society is astonishing. Not only do service dogs help their owners with avoiding dangerous obstacles, help them carry out everyday tasks and detect life threatening seizures or disease, they provide an excellent source of companionship for those who feel particularly lonely in moments due to their disability (Rebecca, 2016). There are reports that the elderly and those with disabilities have very low self-esteem and much higher levels of depression (Whitmarsh, n.d.) very much likely due to the unavoidable stigma linked to disability. However, there are over 57 studies that support the theory that dogs have a substantial impact on the disabled, in forms such as making friends through activities connected with their dogs and the fact that it has been reported that 92% of owners say people commonly stop and talk to them while walking their dogs (Whitmarsh, n.d.).

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Dogs can now be trained to detect seizures in their owners even before humans can, they can detect them from as early as 45 minutes prior to the seizure (Staff, n.d.) and this allows people to take seizure blocking medication before it happens (Mott, 2004). There are two types of dogs that are able to assist people who have epileptic seizures; dogs that can warn those of approaching seizures and there are dogs that can sit with the person afterwards and provide support (Epilepsy Foundation, n.d.). Dogs can do this by detecting very small and subtle changes in human behavior, or they can detect a scent before someone has an episode (Mott, 2004), dogs will do things such as face licking and whining to alert their owner who is about to have a seizure (Ramos, 2004), however no research has yet been able to govern how exactly dogs can antedate an oncoming seizure. Another question I asked on my questionnaire was ‘Do you agree with dogs being used in police departments such as sniffer dogs?’, and 88.9% of people answered with ‘Yes’, whereas 6.4% of the participants answered ‘No’. Police dogs have multiple advantages such as detecting drugs and explosives, tracking, officer safety and criminal apprehension. Canines have an extremely sensitive and keen sense of smell which means they are very good at detecting lots of odors that humans cannot smell, some dogs can even, with training, detect items that have been sealed or put in something with the intention of masking the scent (Rayfield, 2017). They can also assist the police by using their sense of smell to track people on foot such as criminals because once they are given a scent, they can target one person and can follow the path of that person by smelling the skin particles that are given off (Rayfield, 2017). Another advantage is that all of the police dogs are very protective of their partner and will therefore attack if they are in any danger. This works for criminal apprehension because if the criminal were to attack said partner the dog would retaliate; furthermore, dogs are much faster than a lot of criminals and can be trained to chase and attack a human who begins to flee from a scene. These drastically effect the police force and benefits them however a lot of the training required to get these canines to the level they need to be is expensive with addition to the day to day care the dogs must receive such as food, water and attention. Sniffer dogs are frequently used at festivals to detect all the contraband and harmful drugs coming into the festival however they cost a lot of money; to have just three drug dogs at a music festival costs around £4,717 per hour therefore if drug dog operations ran at 20 festivals in a year, it would cost £566,242 and in 2016 it was revealed that on average the police spent £7,400,161 on maintaining the drug dog unit alone (McGowan, 2017). Due to these statistics people are wondering if it is worth all the money as only about 1.7% of people at festivals are searched (McGowan, 2017) nonetheless police reports did show that 2,378 charges had be laid due to the drug dog operations in a 12-month period.

There have been some studies into the thesis that dogs can help children that suffer from ADHD, however there is no clear evidence that the interaction between a dog and a child with the disorder has a positive effect on the child (Rosen, n.d.) Yet, just having a pet around the household can be very good for children because it builds time management skills, provides a great outlet for the excess energy that children have and it can reduce anxiety and stress levels by a lot. Children with ADHD work better in an environment where a routine is in place because it helps them stay organized and plan ahead which is a common symptom of ADD/ADHD (Kledzik, n.d.), therefore by owning a dog, it helps them to keep consistency throughout their day for example by planning dogs walks and when dogs need to be fed. Children with ADHD also have a lot of excess energy that needs to be exercised in some way or they get restless and frustrated because they need to get their energy out, having a dog provides an easy and fun outlet for it (Kledzik, n.d.).

While also providing an effective channel for hyperactive children to get out their additional energy, dogs also help teach all children multiple levels of responsibility that allows them to mature in some aspects of their life faster than others. Owning a dog benefits and helps kids of all ages as when they are much younger and smaller they can do simple things such as telling their parents when the water bowl needs filling or helping to brush the dog (Kaye, n.d.). This will teach them discipline at a young age as they are assisting their parents with tasks that are essential to owning a dog. Once the children get older, they can support their parents by completing much bigger tasks such as feeding and walking the dog. This primarily teaches them to be aware of not only themselves but another life and to think for their dog. It also teaches them the empathy, compassion and skills required when taking on another living, breathing creatures’ life and how much love and support it will need (Kaye, n.d.). Not only can if benefit your child in those ways, but it has been scientifically proven that having a dog as part of the family can boost a toddler’s immune system (Gallagher, n.d.) and their self-esteem because a dog provides children with companionship and unconditional love.

Making the responsibilities and tasks that children should start to carry out with their dog as they get older can be made into one of their day-to-day chores, conversely the children do not often see the activities as a chore as they have fun doing them which consequently increases the likelihood of them wanting to perform the task off their own prerogative and will therefore be much more willing to do the chore. Once the task is seen as a privilege the child is much more enthusiastic to take on the responsibility given (Kaye, n.d.). Once a child is aware that they are excelling at a task such as feeding or cleaning the dog their self-esteem rises drastically which means they are eager to take pride in what they are doing and are likely to repeat the task again with the same effort when its needed (Anderson, 2016). Owning one of ‘man’s best friend’ can subsequently teach children about the tragedies of loss (Anderson, 2016) because the death of a beloved pet can hurt just as much as the loss of a loss relative or friend. It is inevitable for humans to disagree and argue with each other which can create an emotionally heat breaking distance between two humans however that does not happen between a human and their dog; they do not have to deal with this conflict (M.D, 2016), so strong emotional bonds are made between humans and their pets.

To sum up the information above, dogs really do have a significant effect on us. They affect both our physical and psycho-emotional state. Contribute to the harmonious development of both children and adults. In addition, they are excellent companions, friends, helpers. Despite some of the dangers associated with owning a dog, I believe that they play an important role in our lives and that owning a dog is a great benefit.