Dog Ownership Helps Us Live Longer, Studies Show

As any dog lover will tell you, owning a dog is a source of enormous fulfillment and joy. Dogs provide companionship when we’re lonely, a non-judgmental sounding board when we need to vent, and unconditional love on demand. What’s more, research has shown that petting a dog lowers blood pressure, increases levels of the “feel good” hormones oxytocin and prolactin, and decreases levels of the stress hormone cortisol. So it should come as no surprise that two new research studies show that dog ownership can help us live longer too.

Both studies were published in the journal Circulation earlier this month. The largest, a meta-analysis led by Dr. Caroline Kramer of Mount Sinai Health System in Toronto, Canada, looked at almost 70 years of research across three continents. Her team analyzed health records of nearly 4 million people in the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Scandinavia and the United Kingdom, and found that dog ownership was associated with a 24 percent lower risk of dying from any cause. 

The benefits were even greater for people who had already had a heart attack or stroke, Kramer explained. “For those people, having a dog was even more beneficial. They had a 31 percent reduced risk of dying from cardiovascular disease,” she said.

Greater Benefits for People Who Live Alone

The second study looked at 336,000 Swedish men and women age 40 to 85, focusing only on people who had already experienced a major cardiovascular event. Still, the findings echoed those of Kramer’s team — that is, people who owned dogs had a lower risk of death from any cause as well as a lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease. Further, the benefits were greatest in people who lived alone.

Dog owners who had suffered a heart attack had a 33 percent lower risk of dying compared to people who did not own a dog, while stroke survivors who owned dogs had a 27 percent lower risk of death. 

Is Dog Ownership the Key? 

Because both studies were observational, the association between dog ownership and a lower risk of death is still theoretical, the authors admit. Other factors not accounted for in the study design may also have had an effect on the results. For example, are people who own dogs more motivated to exercise after a cardiovascular event? Or do people who choose to own dogs have different personality characteristics than those who prefer not to have a pet? And how might those personality differences affect all-cause mortality? 

Dog owners enjoy more physical activity than those who don’t own pets

“Is it the dog or is it the behaviors?” said Dr. Martha Gulati, editor-in-chief of CardioSmart.org, the patient education platform of the American College of Cardiology. “Is it because you’re exercising or is it because there is a difference in the type of person who would choose to have a dog versus somebody who would not? Are they healthier or wealthier? We don’t know those things.”

Still, there’s a great deal of research that shows dog ownership promotes well-being, both physical and psychological. And while many of these benefits come with owning any type of pet, owning a dog promotes more physical activity, especially in people who live alone. And since physical activity has been shown to lower the risk of death from any cause, it seems likely that dog ownership has at least a moderate protective effect.

That’s probably why many cardiologists are not waiting for randomized clinical trials but are prescribing dog ownership for their patients with cardiovascular disease today. 

“A lot of my patients often say to me after they have a heart attack or stroke, can I even take care of a dog? “Gulati said. “They worry because they don’t want to leave the dog alone if something happens to them,” she explained.

“But if possible, I always encourage them to get a dog.”

As a dog lover, I think that’s wonderful advice.