A recent study shows that pet dogs that live with other dogs in their home were significantly healthier than those that weren’t.
Research shows that the effect of having another pet in the household was five times stronger than other factors, such as financial and household stability, on a dog’s health.
The study, conducted by the Dog Aging Project (DAP), also mentioned that having other (non-canine) pets has positive contributions to a dog’s health.
Brianah McCoy, lead researcher on the study, told FOX, “We’ve been really encouraged by the results because it means there are things we can do to help improve the health of our animal companions, as well as our own, without resorting to medical interventions.. It is therefore very important to have a friend around me – who I am sure we can all identify with.“
Research findings show other components of the social environment that affect and are associated with a dog’s health and lifespan.
A dog owner’s income is one such component. The study suggests that an owner with a higher income was associated with better health.
Another was the age of the owner. Older owners said their dogs were much healthier than younger owners.
Additionally, dogs that lived in more stable households with fewer children were said to be healthier than dogs that lived with less stability and more children.
The researchers used survey and health data from 21,410 purebred and mixed-breed dogs between the ages of 2 and 25.5.
McCoy said the goal of the study is to use this new knowledge so we can advocate for better health care and support for dogs, regardless of age and background.
McCoy revealed, “We turned to dogs for this question because they share so much of our environment and lived experiences, but because of their shorter lifespan, we can study environmental effects across the lifespan.”
The Dog Aging Project is a community-based science project that brings together a broad community to conduct research to understand how genes, lifestyle, and environment influence canine aging and disease outcomes.
