Campanion animals are good medicine for what ails us. For decades people have felt  better when they simply pet an animal.  

 

Now, research shows even five minutes with a therapy dog in a hospital setting can improve patient experience significantly. 

 

Are the healing benefits only physical?

 

Most folks know that having a dog means you're going to get a walk sometime or another, but there are mental and emotional benefits in owning a dog.

 

In short, dogs heal humans. Here's a few simple points of reference:

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Pets decrease feelings of loneliness and isolation. (Kidd, 1994)

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Children's cognitive development can be enhanced by owning a pet. (Poresky, 1988)

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Companionship of pets (particularly dogs) helps children in families adjust better to the serious illness and death of a parent. (Raveis, 1993)

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Having a pet may decrease heart attack mortality by 3%. This translates into 30,000 lives saved annually. (Friedman, 1980)

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Medication costs dropped from an average of $3.80 per patient per day to just $1.18 per patient per day in new nursing home facilities in New York, Missouri and Texas having animals and plants as an integral part of the environment. (Montague, 1995)