Pet ownership has a number of proven health benefits. Pets have been shown to improve physical, mental and emotional health in humans. These benefits include enhancing social skills to decreasing a person’s risk of heart attack.

Having a pet in the home can lower a child’s risk of having allergies. This will not help families in which the adults already have allergies but it may help the child in this household. Some results show a greater than 33 % reduction in allergies in children whose family have pets.

Animals are great icebreakers. One of the fringe benefits of owning pets is that they help their humans improve their socialization skills. Pets help people to connect with each other. There are many places that you and your pet can socialize–training classes, dog parks, dog friendly restaurants and even online.

Dogs can help their owns stay fit. People who own dogs have to walk them and in turn this helps the owners to be fitter. Scientific studies show us that people who own dogs have lower stress levels, lower cholesterol and better fitness levels than their pet-less friends. Pet owners also have a decreased level of obesity.

Pets are also a great way to beat the blues. Pets give us unconditional love and this is crucial to all of us. Animal assisted therapy or Pet Facilitated therapy is available in most areas for seniors, the sick or disabled. Most people who own pets will tell you that they feel better after they have spent some time with their pets. So pet your dog, stroke your cat or groom your horse. As Winston Churchill said
“There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man. “