Health Benefits of Pet Ownership

Studies show that owning a pet can promote heart health, lower anxiety and depression, increase your activity, and even exercise your brain. What's not to love?

If you're considering adopting a puppy, kitten, or other pet – or if you already own one – then you know about the companionship and fun pets add to your life. But in addition, owning a pet can boost your health.

Pets: the physical benefits

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, pets are good for cardiovascular health: Owning a pet can decrease your blood pressure and lower your cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Studies have also found that pet owners are more likely than people without pets to survive after hospitalization for a heart attack, and that owning a pet lowers anxiety and decreases feelings of loneliness and depression.

Pets also help keep their owners fit, since they increase opportunities for exercise and outdoor activities. In a study conducted by the University of Missouri in Columbia, researchers encouraged dog owners to walk their dog for 10 minutes three times a week, and gradually increase to 20 minutes five times a week over the course of a year. The dog walkers lost an average of 14 pounds.

The pet-human bond

Pets can increase the opportunity for socialization — they're a natural topic of conversation and offer a chance to connect with other pet lovers. "Having a pet increases your mental acuity," says Kelly Connolly, M.S., a companion-animals specialist with the Humane Society of the United States. "Remembering to walk and feed your pet exercises your brain, and it increases your sense of responsibility, which is important to people."

The emotional bond between an owner and a dog, cat, or other pet can be as intense as those between humans, and it may offer many of the same psychological benefits. Caring for an animal offers a sense of purpose and fulfillment. Many pet owners believe their pets express a range of emotions. Dr. Stephanie LaFarge, senior director of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Counseling Services, says it is "normal and natural to project human emotions onto animals, even if you know better."

Choosing the best pet for you

"Before you get a pet, decide honestly what you want in one," says LaFarge. Some people want to have a more active lifestyle, some desire companionship, and others are looking for protection. In any case, you as the owner should work to foster a genuine relationship with your pet. Take into account what you will be able to handle, in terms of time, attention, and activity. "Regardless of your age and abilities, you will reap the benefits of a pet if you pick the right one for your lifestyle," says Connolly.

St. Bernard

One of my favorite breed of dogs is St.Bernard breed. The St. Bernard Dog is a very large breed of dog originally bred for rescue and as a working dog. Their life span ranges from 8 to 11 years. St. Bernards are gentle, friendly, and generally fond of children. You need to properly train them considering their huge size.

An independent house with a lawn is so preferable to have this huge pet. They secure your home from any mishap. I just love this breed of dogs.

Its a dog and not a towel

The Shar Pei - wrinkled dog

Shar-pei, the wrinkled dog

Most of us must have seen in advertisements, this dog breed that has wrinkles all over the body and absolutely cuddly. This breed is called Shar-pei giving it a meaning "sand skin" and the origin of this dog is from China. As these dogs mature, the wrinkles disappear as they "grow into their skin". This is the traditional Shar-pei. The other variety of Shar-pei is the one that has wrinkles even when they are grown up.

Oh this means that I love the latter one :)

miniature dogs

Miniature dogs are small size dogs a.k.a pocket dogs and these are pet dogs as well. It is very difficult to maintain these dogs due to their very small size. Vets find it difficult to treat miniature dogs than the bigger dogs. Also, these miniatures naturally have low blood sugar level. Few examples of miniature dogs are Lhasa Apso, Maltese, chihua hua, pug, etc.

Labrador retrievers

Labrador retrievers in short called as Lab are beautiful dogs with pleasing personality traits. They are loving docile dogs that comes in three colors: fawn, black and chocolate labs. Mine is a chocolate Labrador and I am excited to write this particular post :). Labs love long walks and we need to give him enough exercise to stay healthier. If not taken proper care, they will bloat heavily because they are food lovers. Their life expectancy is about 10 to 12 years.

Labradors shed a lot of hair daily. So proper and regular grooming with the brush is highly important. One of the best companions to have around and they can be had in the apartments too like mine. The only thing then required is 3-4 times walk daily. If you are in a separate home then the lawn would be more than sufficient for these dogs. I simply adore them as they are too loyal, friendly and faithful and yes obedient to their masters. Otherwise for others they tend to disobey a lot.

I have posted my lab's 'Mac' picture here :)

Dachshund Dogs

There are several hundreds of dog breeds in this world. To know more on dog breeds you can visit dogchannel.com. Dachshund puppies are cute little pets and when they grow as Dachshund dogs they still look smaller as these are miniature dogs that are short legged. They originate from Germany and the Dachshund dogs life expectancy ranges from 12 to 14 years. You can find three varieties of Dachshund dogs: one is smooth-coated, the second one is longhaired and the last one is wirehaired. The height of these dogs range from 5 to 9 inches depending on whether the dog is miniature type or standard type. Dachshund dogs enjoy long walks and it provides to be a great exercise for these breeds.

This website also gives information on Dachshund puppies for sale. Also you can find information on Dachshund breeders, breed rescue for the Dachshund puppy, selecting a breed, etc. Dachshund puppies also need to be trained to ensure that they are disciplined and obedient. As the puppy gets older you can teach him simple instructions like sit, stay, down, etc. Whether your dog is a pet or a show dog, it needs to be well trained so that it exhibits a well mannered behavior. As you train him, you need to feed him with biscuits after every instruction so that he quickly follows what you say. Do not forget to check out the information on Dachshund training and Dachshund puppy care. The website also has a gallery of Dachshund puppy pictures which you can cherish watching.

Dachshund dogs too need a good grooming based on the type of Dachshund dog you have. Longhaired Dachshunds need to be groomed about three times a week, but the shorthair and the wirecoat can get by with weekly brushing. This will make the dog look shining and beautiful.

Pug dogs

Pet lovers generally love all kinds of dogs. There is a nice site for Pugs. To know more about pugs you can visit this website. Pug dogs are wonderful companions and the Pug dogs life expectancy ranges from 12 to 14 years. To maintain Pug dogs, you need to brush them daily so that they shed less hair and also this will enable them to look shining and healthy. In this website you will also find useful information on Pug puppies for sale. The website also helps you in providing information on Pug training. You can also find a gallery of Pug puppy pictures in this website that details on Pug puppy care. Do not forget to check their pug adoption page in the website where you can search for pets based on gender, species, breed, etc.

The website gives you advice from experts regarding Pug Trainers, Pug Veterinarian, Pug Breeder and Pug Grooming. As a pet Pugs do not wish to obey and take orders from the master. So to have the pleasure of Pugs obeying you and being very disciplined, it is important that you hire pug trainers to train your pug dogs. Those information are present in the website. Just visit this website and get the best of information for your Pug Pet dogs.