It turns out unconditional love and friendship are not the only things humans get from having dogs as pets, as canine friends also help people stay fit and healthy. Dogs love outdoors, so having them around encourages people to do activities that become exercise for the body, such as walking, running or playing together. For the same reason, a new study has found that having canines at home can help prevent obesity in children by as much as 50 %.

In addition, other studies show that dog ownership enables people to gain trust of others more quickly as against non-pet-owners. Dogs make people friendlier and able to make connections with the community faster. More importantly, dogs teach people to love, as shown by a research on pre-adolescent kids who have dogs. These kids have higher self-esteem and more empathetic than those who did not have dogs.

Picture Credit: jpctalbot