One of the main conclusions at the Global Conference “People & Animals: For Life” held in Stockholm in early July, was that of all pets, dogs are the most beneficial  to humans because just being with them stimulates the production of endorphins, walking with them on a daily basis improves health and helps prevent heart disease and other illnesses, such as depression, since they are an inexhaustible source of companionship, love, loyalty, joy and positive energy. Taking dogs for walks also helps their owners to make new friends.
Every day there are more and more doctors prescribing having a dog for the elderly who live alone. This is because they know that the dog will encourage them to get up every morning, will make them take a walk and help them to feel useful again as well as being needed, loved, protected and entertained. In other words they will help them overcome the loneliness and sadness that many elderly living alone experience.
Similarly dogs are particularly suitable for only children as the dog becomes a playmate and confidant. It has been shown that children who own a dog are much more spontaneous and self-sufficient because the mere fact that they are responsible for their pet gives them self-confidence. Also children become more sensitive because the love that the dog transmits goes beyond words. Dogs also help children to improve their relationships with adults. Interestingly enough their constant contact with dogs appears to make them more resistant to infections.
Dogs have also demonstrated their effectiveness as guides and assistants, not only for the blind  but also for the deaf, people with mobility problems, the mentally handicapped, people with Alzheimer’s and more.  A service dog is trained to pick things up the ground, turn lights on and off, help to raise an arm or hand, to get a person’s attention, touching a bell, give a warning bark, opening and closing drawers and pull things out, open and close doors, wake up its owner or lead them to an audio source such as a ringing telephone, etc.
A dog’s effectiveness has been proven in therapies with children with autism, cerebral palsy, Downs syndrome and other disabilities. They are even permitted access to the Children’s Oncology sections of some hospitals because of their beneficial effect of the children who are ill.
Anyone who has a dog at home knows how much the dog make his life happy from the time he wakes up until he goes to bed.  Dogs always greet us with joy when we come home and comfort us when we are sad. They are loyal, honest, sincere, patient, intelligent, caring, self-sacrificing, obedient, attentive and affectionate.
This could easily explain why, in Palma alone there are around 80.000 dogs. Balearic households that have added one or more dogs to their  family exceed 250.000 and in Europe the canine census is counted by tens of millions. This indicates that in addition to being beneficial to health, they are also of great  benefit to the economy since all  businesses related to the care of dogs in any way thrive.

By Nieves Martin