There’s a reason that when you look up “most common pet,” only one answer amongst the plethora of articles on the Internet comes up. Being a loving companion that everyone should consider bringing into their life, this one three-letter word encapsulates the warm, loyal ball of energy that is a dog. As a dog-owner myself, I admit that I am partial to this topic. However, by the end of this article, I hope you too will be convinced to either get a dog (if you don’t already have one) or appreciate your dog’s worth and spend more time with them.
1. Dogs make you happier and decrease your stress levels.
Petting dogs is associated with an increase in oxytocin and serotonin and is also correlated with lowering cortisol levels (for reference, high cortisol levels are associated with anxiety and depression).
2. Dogs make you get up and move.
Whether you want to or not, you have to get up every morning to take them outside, walk them, and feed them. Not only is the exercise good for both parties, but it allows you to add a routine to your life and helps you be active at least once a day.
Dogs have an incredible emotional depth and range.
They understand more than you think they do, as they are conscious of the emotions and behavior of the people around them. They empathize with you in a way that humans sometimes cannot. You don’t have to say anything to let them know that you’re feeling down. They will come to you and snuggle up beside you, nudging your arm to let you know you are not alone.
Your dog will undeniably form a close bond with you.
My dog instantly leaps up from her bed at the faint hum of a car engine pulling into the driveway every day. She sprints to the window and jumps up so that her front paws balance on the window ledge, just so she can look outside into the front yard to see us exit the car and walk to the front door. Coming back from a long, tiring day at school, nothing brings me more joy than seeing her perked-up ears and eager face awaiting me. She waits by the front door impatiently, straining to reach us and then jumping two feet in the air as she smothers us with hugs.
Whether they are exuberant in their joy at seeing you come home or are more reserved and instead lay on the couch as you arrive with the implied expectation you will rub their ears as you pass, rest assured that your dog develops a strong and unbreakable bond with you.
Dogs are wonderful role models.
Their way of living each day as a new one, as if none came before it, of looking at you with indescribable joy with the biggest stick in your backyard dangling from their smiling mouth, of chasing after the chewed-up tennis ball they insist on playing with as if nothing else matters in that moment, all give you a new perspective on the impermanence of life and the need to focus on the present.
Of course, there are different types of dogs, each with different personalities and behaviors, but one quality that is ubiquitous among them is that they will be there for you, in their own unique way, each day, without fail.
