Dog's Life Magazine

Winter 2009

Healing Power of Pets

By Kyra Kirkwood

Many pet owners know that having a dog around makes a house a home, or that jogging with our canine companions can help us get back in shape. But it's so much more than that. "Dog medicine" may not come in a bottle, but that cold, wet nose can boast some incredible healing results, both mentally and physically. The positive influence and energy emitted by our furry friends can be therapeutic beyond belief. From helping lower blood pressure to preventing heart disease, hastening physical recovery to lowering cholesterol, the positive health influence of dogs keeps expanding.

Enjoying the companionship of a dog boasts both obvious and surprising benefits. Owners with active pups may find themselves spending more time walking miles around the local park, thus dropping some unwanted pounds and lowering heart disease risks. Or maybe they feel safer and more peaceful knowing a dog awaits them at home and watches over their family throughout the night. Many dog-owning families report increased levels of general happiness. A 1985 study done by Ann Ottney Cain of the University of Maryland at Baltimore noted how 70 percent of homes reported an increase in family fun once Fido joined the pack.

But a canine's healing influence stretches beyond that. Sure, dogs can act as a catalyst for positive lifestyle changes such as through increased exercise, but they can also strengthen other factors of our lives, from stress relief to depression management. “Even just being around a dog, and not necessarily owning one, can also bestow health benefits all around,” said JoAnn Turnbull, director of marketing for the Delta Society in Bellevue, WA, a non-profit organization uniting ill and disabled people with professionally trained therapy animals and service dogs, all while promoting human health and well-being through interactions with animals.

From anecdotal evidence to fact-based scientific data, studies show that dogs are actually good for our health. Research, from places such as the National Institutes of Health, shows that people with pets end up living healthier, happier, and sometimes longer, lives.

Fight depression

Wintertime in upstate New York can be a bleak season, filled with cold nights and dark days. But the winter of 2007 fell especially hard on best-selling author Jon Katz when he succumbed to a dizzying depression. For months, he felt extremely down and burdened with past issues. Never before having to deal with depression, Katz, 60, did know one thing: he had to fight it. He worked with a therapist, dug through his personal history, ironed out his issues. And he got a dog.

That seemed to do the trick. From the first day with his new companion, Katz felt the tides shift. In bounced this floppy, goofy black Labrador puppy named Lenore, and Katz couldn't help but feel joy. "Lenore means the world to me," said Katz, author of 18 books including 12 non-fiction novels such as his latest, "Izzy & Lenore: Two Dogs, an Unexpected Journey and Me."

"Every time I looked at Lenore, I smiled. She kept love alive. She had a huge impact on me. I started calling her the love hound, the light." Each moment that Katz scratched Lenore's belly, played ball with her or was on the end of one of her many, many sloppy kisses, he felt the darkness recede until the day it was gone for good. Her healing influence still continues today.

Katz and Lenore are not alone. As experienced by Katz, dogs can be great antidepressants. People suffering from mental distress often find having a dog by their side lifts some of the "brain fog."

Healthcare professionals state that exercise, especially outside, is beneficial in treating and managing depression. When it comes to owning a dog, exercise is part of the package. Getting up and out is a necessity, whether owners feel like it or not. Toss in unconditional love, the elimination of loneliness and that ever-powerful giving/receiving affection ritual, and that all helps drive back the black clouds.

Routine, which dogs crave, is also a powerful tool in depression treatment. Dogs thrive on the schedule for walks, meals, brushing, bathing, and training—every day. This forces their owners to not isolate alone at home, but instead to get back to living while taking comfort in the small rituals of daily dog life.

"The roles that dogs can play are incredible," said Nancy Peterson, issues specialist with The Humane Society of the United States. "The dog can really, really take on a huge role as a friend, confident, family member, someone who is always there. Having a dog love and need you gives you purpose and helps you feel special, important, less alone,” says Peterson.

Decrease stress levels

Studies have shown that dogs promote our overall well being by buffering stress and helping take the edge off of tense life circumstances. "I think the physical activity of petting a dog helps increase serotonin [levels] and decrease stress hormones," says Robin Cohen, Pet Encounter Therapy manager with the Helen Woodward Animal Center in Rancho Santa Fe, CA.

A 2005 study done at the UCLA Medical Center with 76 cardiac patients suffering from stress after medical procedures showed remarkable results. Patient stress levels registered highest while the patients were alone. When a volunteer visited them, stress levels decreased slightly. But after time spent with a dog, the patients found their stress and anxiety levels to drop 24 percent.

"Even if it's the nicest volunteer possible, there is still some stress," Cohen said. "With a dog, there is no pressure. [People] are accepted for what they can provide at the moment…for who they are at that moment."

After the 9/11 attacks, specially trained dogs known as "therapets" were employed in New York's Family Assistance Center to help ease the pain and stress experienced by grieving family members and friends who lost loved ones in the terrorist attacks. They provided a level of comfort humans could not, said those observing the dogs in action. They didn't ask anything of those they comforted. They were just there. “Dogs don't live in the past," said Cohen. "The dog lives in the present. There's no pressure, no judgment."

During a 2008 rape trial in Florida, the prosecutor's office asked one of the Delta Society's Pet Partners to stop by the courthouse with a dog to help soothe the shattered nerves of their prime witness: the woman who was raped. Pet Partners are pet/owner volunteer teams specially trained to visit hospitals, nursing homes and other organizations in an effort to bestow some four-legged love on those in need. “Spending time with the dog helped the rape survivor gather her strength and face her assailant in the courtroom”, said Turnbull. “During a particularly stressful moment on the stand, the woman looked down at her leg and saw a dog hair stuck there. That gave her the strength to quash her stress and resume her testimony”, Turnbull said.

Children experiencing especially stressful times in life can also benefit from the companionship of a canine. Dogs serve as superior confidants, allowing children to unburden their fears and thoughts to the dog and alleviate some of their personal stress loads. According to Dr. Victoria H. Raveis of Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, having a pet around helps children deal more efficiently with the serious illness and death of a parent as well as handle the fear and stress of doctor examinations.

Lower Blood Pressure & medical costs

Dog owners also experience cardiovascular perks without even having to break a sweat. The National Institute of Health Technology Assessment Workshop research in 1987 showed that the psychological stability gained from pet ownership provides some protection against heart disease. The simple act of petting a dog can reduce stress and increase calm feelings, thus lowering blood pressure and the risk of cardiovascular events, said Turnbull. You don't have to walk or even own the dog to get the perks, either. It's the canine contact that's important.

In addition, studies done by researchers at the Baker Medical Research Institute in Australia found that dog owners have lower triglyceride and cholesterol levels than do non-owners, even when paired up with other non-dog-owning people who had the same weight, diet and smoking habits. Other studies, like those done by Karen Allen, PhD, with the Department of Medicine at State University of New York at Buffalo, found that pet ownership lowers blood pressure and lessens cardiovascular reactivity to psychological stress, helping to prevent a heart attack in the first place.

Yet even more flabbergasting is a groundbreaking research study that discovered that dog owners were more likely to survive a heart attack, and that a year after a major heart attack, dog owners were still more likely to still be alive. In this 1995 study, conducted by Erika Friedmann and published in the American Journal of Cardiology, the mortality rate among pet owners was found to be one-third that of patients without animals in their lives. Nineteen of 263 patients who did not own dogs died, compared to only 1 of 86 of dog-owning patients.

The researchers a lso discovered that pet ownership decreased the heart-attack mortality rate by three percent. Since an estimated 1 million people perish from heart disease annually, animal companionship might just save 30,000 lives each year.

Not only do dogs help with cardiac health and survival, but they can also lower overall medical costs. A 1995 report by J. Montague in the journal "Hospitals & Heath Networks" examined nursing home facilities in New York, Missouri and Texas that had animals present. It showed that daily medication costs dropped from an average of $3.80 per patient to $1.18 per patient per day. In addition, research showed that seniors who own dogs often visit the doctor less often.

How does this happen? “Perhaps,” theorizes Peterson, "if you're stressed, you're going to stress your immune system." A more stressed immune system means more susceptibility to illness, more money spent on medications and more doctor's visits.

A 1999 Swedish study also showed that infants in their first year of life who are exposed to animals have reduced rates of developing asthma and allergies. This could result in lower medication costs and doctor bills.

Enhanced quality of life for senior citizens

Since Americans are living longer, many seniors are faced with living alone after the death of a spouse, friends or relatives. Owning a dog can help ease those feelings of isolation and grief. Dog ownership also gives seniors a reason to keep on living, say experts. Sometimes, even the smallest interaction between dog and owner can do wonders.

Having a pet around allows senior citizens to feel needed once more, say experts like Turnbull and the HSUS' Peterson. Dogs motivate their owners to get up and out of the house, and back into the community, especially through walks or trips to the park, noted Turnbull. This helps senior citizens feel more focused on an external source instead of turning inward and spending days obsessing about loneliness, aches and pains or other ailments.

Dogs are a "social lubricant," said Peterson. They connect people to each other and the world. Who out there has been walking a dog, only to have a total stranger stop, comment on the pooch, strike up a conversation—all things that most likely would not have happened if there was no dog in the picture? Simply stated, dogs keep their older owners active, involved in the community and living life.

The elderly residing in assisted living facilities or other types of retirement homes are often faced with crippling loneliness. Some don't even talk to anyone, or have family visitors. But when visited by volunteers with dogs, these people experience a reduction in loneliness as well as an increase in social and verbal interactions, studies site.

Nancy Smith of Anaheim Hills, Calif., found this out first-hand. In 1996 when her father, Edward Smith, was living in an assisted living facility in Topeka, Kan., he became severely withdrawn and despondent. "Daddy was depressed," Smith said of her 87-year-old father. "He stayed in his room and wouldn't socialize or eat."

One day a therapy dog, a black Labrador retriever named Karbon, showed up for a visit, and changed everything. "The Lab came right up to [her father] and basically never left him," Smith recalled. From that day forward, whenever Karbon visited—which was daily—Edward Smith would come out of his room, eat, talk, all while the dog was with him. He even played the piano once, a passion he'd long but given up.

"[Having the dog around] just made Daddy's last days on Earth a lot easier and happier," said Smith.

healing through therapy

Dogs also work their healing magic in more specific ways, namely through their work as therapy dogs. Using canines as part of a patient's recovery has also been shown in numerous studies and first-person accounts to be beneficial. People learning to walk again or needing to attain a certain level of mobility often hesitate to progress due to the pain and the tediousness of physical therapy.

But place a dog in the picture, and the image—and attitude—changes. Instead of walking from one rail to the next, a patient may be able to help volunteers and therapists walk a dog down the hospital coordinator. Perhaps brushing a dog or throwing a ball, instead of using a machine, will inspire the stroke victim to keep pushing those arm muscles back into action. Therapy becomes fun, not work. Progress gets made, nearly subconsciously. "You have that external focus again," said Turnbull.

At a hospital in Virginia, doctors have been known to prescribe therapy dogs to visit patients in comas, said Turnbull. When the dogs were placed on beds, the brain activity levels responded in more normal ways. "They believe [dogs] are a factor in [patients] coming out of comas," Turnbull said.

Conclusion

While dogs can work mini miracles, they are not "cure-alls," or substitutes for traditional medical care and pharmaceutical measures. Dogs can help ease depression, but people may still need the assistance of therapists, psychiatrists or medications. People with high cholesterol can't just hug a dog instead of taking Lipitor. But they do play an important part of the whole, holistic picture. Dogs might not be able to cure every medical ailment, but "in those moments you need some support…and love, they are a huge help," said Katz.

Experts warn that dogs should not be used as toys or props. Getting a dog, as one would purchase a bottle of antacid at the pharmacy, is not ideal. Dog ownership is a 10- to 15-year commitment, and lifestyles, family situations and other personal factors must be evaluated before making the decision to own a dog.

Even if dogs can't cure everything that ails us, they can't hurt. It doesn't matter the breed or size of the dog, either. Purebred, mutt, old or young, all can give wonderful things to our hearts and bodies. Animal shelters across the country are filled with thousands of orphan dogs in need of a home who are just waiting to start heeling for you, and healing you.

"They have so many lessons to teach us," said Cohen, "You have the ability to be the sun to these dogs. You are their world. There's something very beautiful about bringing such joy to someone else. When they're saving you [and] your health, you're saving them right back."

Kyra Kirkwood is an Orange County, California-based freelance writer specializing in dog reporting. Visit her website at www.kyrakirkwood.com

[SIDEBAR]

So are dogs turning into this new-age disease fighter? The new "it drug?" No, not really, but their positive energy can help alter our mental and physical status. Various research and studies on the human/animal bond have discovered that the presence of dogs can:

· Decrease loneliness and depression

· Decrease the incidence of minor health problems in owners

· Decrease stress anxiety levels

· Lower blood pressure

· Decrease heart attack mortality rates

· Lower cholesterol

· Increase positive self-esteem in children

· Enhance children's cognitive development

· Decrease daily medication costs in the elderly

· Increase social interaction

· Enhance physical therapy measures

· Enhance the lives of senior citizens, especially those living alone

[SIDEBAR]

For more information visit:

• Delta Society's Pet Partners program: www.deltasociety.org

• Stress reduction due to pet ownership: www.stress.about.com

• The National Institutes of Health: www.consensus.nih.gov

• The Centers for Disease Control: www.cdc.gov

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