If you’ve ever noticed that you feel better when you’re around your dog, then you might be happy to learn that it’s not just a placebo effect!

Spending quality time with your dog, like a French bulldog,  is a great way to actually lower your stress, improve your mood and boost your overall health. Pet owners that have good relationships with their pets tend to be better off than pet owners that neglect their dogs. There are many different ways in which our dogs can help us with our health, and in this post, we’re going to be taking a look at some of the biggest reasons.

1. Dogs help to soothe your stress

Petting or cuddling your dog feels great and it’s a fantastic way to lower your stress levels. It can help to lower your blood pressure, release relaxation hormones and actively lowers stress hormones too. Dogs also feel the same effects when they receive love and affection from you, making it a great way to interact with your canine friend. So the next time you’re feeling a little down, give your dog a cuddle and you’ll feel a bit better right away.

2. Dogs make us more active

Taking care of a dog is no easy task! You’re far more likely to walk around with your dog, you’re more likely to play active games with them and you’re also more likely to put in extra effort to make sure that your dog is healthy and feeling great. This means that our dogs can help us lower our blood pressure and reduce the risk of heart disease over a long period of time. Having a dog also means that you’ll be encouraged to be more active, whether it’s playing with them in the park or having a companion to walk around and jog with.

3. Dogs teach us to take care of our health

You can’t be a good dog owner if you don’t take care of your own health. Whether it’s buying the best dog food that offers the most nutrition or ensuring that your dog gets plenty of exercises, we eventually learn to impart these own good habits to ourselves. As you learn to take care of your dog, you’ll find that the same effort you put into your dog will also start to apply to you, meaning you’ll learn to take better care of yourself while also looking after your dog at the same time.

4. Dogs give us a sense of belonging

One surprising advantage of having a dog is that it gives us a sense of belonging. Since we’re responsible for our dog, it helps us make better decisions which can improve our mood and help us deal with minor problems more easily. It also helps with feelings of loneliness and can be a great motivator for other tasks and issues in life.

As you can see, dogs can help with our health in a number of different ways. They’re a surprisingly helpful companion when it comes to boosting our health and offer us many comforts to soothe our stress and improve our mood.