SMILES, JOY AND EXERCISE
Owning a pet is good for your health
Want to be healthy, Ottawans? Get a pet. Ideally, adopt one from a shelter. It’s good for you (and better for them), and provided you’re not allergic, owning a pet can do wonders for your health.
Canadians had 8.2 million pet dogs and 8.3 million pet cats in 2018, according to the Canadian Animal Health Institute. As of July 2019, there were 17,236 cats and 31,713 dogs registered in Ottawa — and of course we own other pets such as birds, hamsters, fish, all kinds of beasties.
I’m not here to rank one species over another, but dogs are pretty much the only pets you can keep in the city that more or less force you to go outside and walk regularly.
Pet parents often insist that looking after their favourite furry ball keeps them healthier, and not just because of the walking. There’s serious research backing their claims: a 2016 University of Missouri study showing increased activity levels, lower body mass index and fewer visits to the doctor for pet-owning seniors; a 2015 Swedish study showing reduced risk of asthma in six-year-old children who were exposed to dogs or farm animals in their first year of life; a 2015 U.S. study claiming a pet at home helped decrease anxiety in children. In a 2013 statement, the American Heart Association claimed dog ownership helped reduce heart disease risk factors and was associated with greater longevity.
Christine Rideout is no scientist, but she strongly believes having both a dog and a cat contributes to her good health. The retired OC Transpo driver says without Charlie, her rescued chihuahua, she wouldn’t go outside nearly as much. Rideout used to own big dogs, but the approximately five-year-old Charlie just kind of happened to her. She couldn’t imagine her life without him now.
Neither could 11-year-old Hilton, another rescued chihuahua who lives in the same Trend-Arlington apartment building, with Frances Hulett, a former health-care worker. Hilton used to belong to Hulett’s granddaughter but she couldn’t keep him because his barking made it difficult to operate her homebased business.
Hilton doesn’t usually get along with other dogs, but for some reason he took to Charlie and the dog friendship created a bond between the two women.
“I wouldn’t have friends here if I didn’t have a dog,” Rideout said. “Hilton comes to my patio to try to get my attention so I can let Charlie out.”
Hulett was always a walker, but there’s no question a dog keeps you going. She takes Hilton out four or five times a day, for 10 or 15 minutes at a time, depending on the weather. Walking 45 minutes a day or more goes a long way toward reaching the recommended 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity a week.
Dogs can also bring smiles and joy to people in need of both. Ottawa Therapy Dogs has 67 teams visiting institutions across the city, according to program manager Lorraine Douglas, and they elicit smiles everywhere they go. Especially in long-term care facilities, Douglas said, where in some cases “they might be the only visitors (residents) get that week.”
She recounted taking Bailey, her golden retriever, to a facility where an elderly man sat wordlessly in his wheelchair.
He had been there six months, and nobody had heard him say a word. When Bailey rested his head on the man’s knees, he said “golden, golden.”
Pets — and here we can rope in cats and other animals — also help keep us mentally engaged, not focused so much on ourselves. We talk to our pets. We think about them. We worry about their needs, we insist on socializing them, and it often leads us to make new friends, among other humans and animals too. This can be a very good and healthy thing, especially if we live alone.
Pet ownership is not for everyone. But for those in a position to adopt or rescue a pet, it can do wonders for our health.
Brigitte Pellerin is an Ottawa writer who wants this city to be the healthiest in Canada. Her series appears on Tuesdays and Fridays.