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Comment by qmmmur | Hacker News Reader

People who have the means to own and care for a dog will probably have a better diet, less stress, more time to exercise and go to the doctor. I doubt dogs have a magical health aura.

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They have. Having to walk them turns every couch potato into someone who is spending, depending on size & agility of the dog, 30min to 2h outdoors , walking. Every single day.

They also tend to pester you for food or walks roughly at the same times every day, so, no matter how irregular your lifestyle was, there suddenly is a wireless alarm clock all day. Every single day. (Kids are much better at this, though).

In the EU and US at least, you can get this all for free: Sign up as a volunteer at the next animal shelter, commit to walking one of their dogs twice a day, 7 days a week :)

Isn't that only people who have a dog in an apartment? For people who have a house with a backyard the dog walks and runs around in the backyard. Growing up at least that was the norm in my neighborhood. Lots of neighbors and us included had a dog, rarely saw people walking them. We played with our dogs often as kids but taking them for a walk was rare.

This is purely anecdotal and dependent on location/neighborhood. In my suburban ‘hood with white picket fences, you see people walking dogs everyday - and we’re not an exactly good example of a walkable neighborhood.

Kinda, my family dog lives on a farm and has free reign (eg, no fenced backyard). He just goes in and out as he pleases, but he still gets super excited when you take him for a walk.

It's so true. Without dog I'd probably spend most of my free time sitting on the couch playing games/ watching TV. But now I'm "forced" to go for at least one long walk, no matter the weather :).

Additionally coming home and having someone who's happy to see you helps forget about all the work-induced stress.

So the question the, becomes - if you own a dog, but someone else in the family walks/feeds it - are there any health benefits?

If not, you have a study showing that 'Dog ownership promotes regular healthy walking'.

I think that commenters are assuming that dog walking is the benefit.

That’s a factor, but a few studies have shown association with a dog in a household (not ownership) has positive effect.

Companionship is a key factor with dogs and a key deficiency in many people. The human-dog relationship is unique because we snap into the dogs innate pack structure. Dogs want to take care of us, and that brings joy.

I’ve seen it with elderly folks and my own son. Our family dog made herself my son’s training wheels when he was learning to walk.

This is true, but your experience isn't mutually exclusive with my statement. People who are destitute often don't have the resources to keep a healthy dog. You are, as I imagine (and please correct me if I am wrong) well off and can afford to spend 30min - 2 hours a day walking your dog.

I am working 40h/week as a software developer for a non-profit... Whether I spend 6h/day thinking hard about problems[1] at my desk or on the sofa or while walking a dog makes no difference w.r.t. but a lot for health and general well-being.

[1] I vehemently believe in the "80% thinking, 10% cooding, 10% testing" idea of software development.

Does the person in question spend 30min-2hrs a day watching TV?

> Having to walk them turns every couch potato into someone who is spending, depending on size & agility of the dog, 30min to 2h outdoors , walking. Every single day.

You have a wildly optimistic view of the average dog owner's level of responsibility and proactive care.

Just like parents with children, plenty would prioritise feeding the dog well over themselves. I'd do it myself. When I was a student, I have a few times. A healthy happy dog is a huge influence on my sanity, stress. The weather may be horrible out, but the dog will still love it if it's blowing a gale, freezing or tipping down. Without the dog I'd skip those trips.

The payback was huge, and magical. With PAT (pets as therapy) dogs there have been other studies, that show even temporary access to a dog for an hour in a hospital ward shows benefits. Like lowering heart rate just by patting or stroking it.

As an aside, emotional well being I believe (though I don't have any papers) is linked to improved health. Dog owners, unsurprisingly enjoy dogs. So to a degree, the dogs do have a magic aura.

I don't own one currently but I absolutely adore them. I imagine my stress levels drop significantly every time I'm admiring one at the park.

While it is of course not "magic", I think you're over simplifying the impact of positive factors in peoples lives.

Homeless people I see (or people that appear to be that way) always seem to have the nicest looking dogs here in Europe.

Probably because people are more inclined to give something to the dog of a homeless person vs the homeless person. I am certainly that way. So you have a dog that’s well fed and spends the whole day running around outside. Pretty good life for a dog.

Maybe, but dogs can also be incredibly loyal. They will stick by you when no one else will.

Dogs offer intuition, protection, and companionship where humans will not, for homeless.

Do the owners tend to look healthier for their demographic? I bet keeping a high morale probably contributes to better health outcomes as well, and dogs can be good for high morale.

It never really occurred to me to compare them before. Not necessarily from memory.

Disagree. I would spend all my afternoons indoors unless I had a dog. Having to walk it no less than half an hour a day means I'm forced to do some sort of exercise that I wouldn't do otherwise.

Yes okay, but the magic bullet here isn't the dog its the means to have an animal who gets you out of the house and walking.

Good point! So, in reality, it isn't the dog, it's what you do when you're a dog owner. I think that's why they phrased the paper with "dog ownership", implying that the main condition for improved health isn't the dog itself, but your routines as owner of one.

Dogs require frequent walks if you don't plan on cleaning your floors/carpets daily.

Could it just not be that people who own and _care_ for a dog get exercise daily, as opposed to just sitting in a couch binging netflix all day ?

Recent studies have proved that walking is a great source of exercise, and depending on dog size you get 2-10km walks per day (1-6 freedom units)

Oh is freedom unit a mile? That’s funny.

Dog ownership (I should say, pet ownership) is disproportionately something for poor(er) people. 25% of all household here (.nl) have pets, but out of poor households, 60% do.

I see hobos with dogs.

This might have been your point, but it would indeed be interesting to know whether they have better or worse health outcomes than those without dogs.

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