I had never been a dog person and didn’t even touch any dog all my life. I was one of those people who were always petrified to cross the same path with dogs.
My few friends had dogs and they used to talk about them all the time. They pampered them, caressed them as if a dog was the only meaningful thing left in their life. And I used to wonder “Man! have they gone mad?”.
Who chatters about a dog like that, after all, it’s just a dog. And, whenever I claimed “I hate dogs“. All I got is :-
And then came a moment that marked an epoch in my history. My father brought a German shepherd into our family. I saw and touched him for the very first time. I still remember the moment when I held that little puppy with my shivering hand. He was so tiny and shabby.
I was still not comfortable holding him, but I didn’t feel like giving it to others either. Trust me, from no angle he looked like a German shepherd. I will be honest, he was the ugliest puppy I had ever seen in my life.
And, it took him many months to grow into a handsome dog. But, every beautiful thing takes a time to grow, so as my love for him.
And that was the beginning of a fresh chapter of my life, in fact for the whole family. He used to follow us to each corner of house and didn’t even mind following us to the washroom.
And, that’s how he got his name “Shadow”. As the time passed by, I felt he was the best thing ever happened to our family – still he is. None of us can even picture our life without fitting him in the frame.
He doesn’t speak our language, but I understand everything just by the way he looks at me with his twinkling eyes and the way he behaves.
I never knew that just bringing him into our family, will change everything for us in the best way. He is not just a dog, he is our family and our ultimate source of happiness.
I am sure, I am not the only one who feels the same way for their dogs. All dog owners hit the same beat for their dogs. However, it’s not just the sense of jollity and cheerfulness that a dog brings to the life.
There are other several benefits of having a dog. Let’s talk about few of them.
1. Dog can lower down your stress levels.
Had a bad day at the office? Or had a fight with your girlfriend?
No worries, your dog is waiting at your home with his wagging tail and slurry kiss and is all suit-up to give you a hell of a welcome and to take away all your worries.
Whether you are out of his sight even for a moment or even for hours, the moment your dog sees you he jumps on you as if he has met you after a long time. The dog never misses a chance to make your feel good about yourself and to feel better you are feeling lost and alone.
He strips down all your worries and tensions in just a moment and cuddles you with loads of affection by giving you a sense of belonging.
Kathryn Oda gave a beautiful example of this with her post on the Huffington post. She shared her story that how owning a dog helped her overcome her depression and anxiety when nothing was working out for her.
She took every possible treatment and medicines to deal with her problem, but nothing worked for her. Her dog healed her and still he makes sure that his owner doesn’t slip into that phase again.
2. Can help you improve your social life.
All dog owners will agree with me on this. That finally they have found a topic to talk incessantly about. It’s weird but true, we can never get tired if our dog is the sole attention of our talks.
It’s always a cakewalk to gel up with other dog parents too. Surely, dog improves our social life. We get to meet other people when we take our dog out for a walk and other dog events.
And, it’s true that a dog picture has the capability to get more social likes and comments than your own pictures. No matter, what people think about a dog, but there will rarely be a person, who won’t go AWWW seeing a dog or puppy’s picture.
People are likely to be more social after owning a dog. There are so many dog clubs out there, where we get to meet other people, which increase our chances to meet new people. Trust me, dog is the new black.
For those who are single, trust me just by owning a dog can save you from half of the hard work. Most of the girls like a guy with a dog. And, undoubtedly there might be the moments, when you will be stopped while walking a dog, just to listen to these cute words “AWW your dog is so cute, what’s his name? ”
3. Helps your children to fight allergies and can boost their immunity.
There has always been a misconception about this topic. People use to feed their mind with half knowledge. Most of them advise their children to make a distance from a dog or any other pets as they are likely to catch allergies or other diseases from them. But, trust me the opposite is true.
There are many recent studies that claim that dog can help the kids to fight with allergies and keep them away from several diseases.
One study published in the Journal of Pediatrics conducted a study on 636 children. Those children enrolled in the study are considered at high risk for developing allergies because they were born to parents with allergies.
And, the research was continued for 4 years and they are tested against 17 different allergies. The Researchers found that owning a dog reduced the risk of developing eczema among children.
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4. A true companion for old age.
Almost every person imagine of living his life on a huge farm, far from the city life, between the arms of nature with his loved ones after retirement. But, no picture is complete without having a dog to fit his family frame. Whether it’s a little walk to the market or the long walk of life, a dog never stops being your companion.
No matter, if you are left alone in old age or your family is too busy to notice you, your dog will always be there to listen to you and to shower his affection on you. Till the time he will be with you, you will be his master.
There’s no better way to say that dog is indeed a man’s best friend and this friendship grows stronger with age.
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5. You’ll feel safer.
Let’s admit this that a dog can sense a fear much earlier than a man. They have an instinct which alerts them for every fear. They get cautious whenever they sense a fear. They always protect you from dangerous situations.
There are so many stories about dogs, where dogs saved their owners from dangerous situations. The moment they sense any fear around their owner, they just rush to save them and protect them.
Who is not aware of Dexter CO67, a military dog, who is known for his bravery. He served the military for 6 years and once saved at least a thousand military personnel and civilians by detecting a garbage truck filled with explosives. And later, went out to be the only canine member of American Legion.
I am sure, you won’t face these extreme security threats in your life. But even if it’s a small fight with your bad neighbor or even a small heat session with your friends, don’t worry your dog has got your back.
6. Keeps your emotional health in check.
Your dog is likely to maintain a good balance of emotions and sentiments in you. A dog can keep your emotions alive and drenched with sentiments. A strong emotional health further leads to more good things in your life by making you more confident and with higher self-worth.
Pet owners are likely to have a higher degree of self-esteem and share a good bond with others as compared to non-pet owners. Many dog owners will agree with me on this that they are likely to feel more compassion towards other and start understanding things better on the emotional front.
I have personally noticed it that You are likely to feel less alone, able to lift up your mood and to wash away your negativity just by looking at your dog. Trust me, dog brings you more closer to the humanity and keep your emotions alive.
And, those who just suffered a breakup and still struggling hard to get over their ex, a dog can heal you better than anything else.
7. Keep you fit and active 24/7.
There one thing that a dog will surely make you do, no matter who you are, from where you belong or how lazy you are, your dog will never feel shy in making you shed few pounds. Just by taking your dog for a walk two times a day can improve your health significantly. Improved health means more alertness, more alertness means more productivity.
It can surely bring a halt to your sedentary lifestyle. A dog can give you reasons to jump out of your couch and hit the roads.
There are studies which have proved that owning a pet can dramatically improve your health. Many doctors even suggested people undergo a pet therapy. Pet therapy is a growing field which uses animals and other pets to promote and help people to fight against cancer, heart disease, and mental problems.
Summary :- Go get a dog…That’s it.
How many of you agree with the above benefits of having a dog? Are you a dog lover like me? Do introduce yourself in comments.
How many of you own a dog? Let’s share our own dog stories.
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