100 Simple Secrets Why Dogs Make Us Happy: The Science Behind What Dog Lovers Already Know by David Niven

From the Publisher

Did you know that people who have dogs live happier, longer, and more fulfilling lives?

Sociologists and veterinarians have spent years investigating the positive effects that dogs have on people's health and happiness, yet their findings have been hidden in obscure journals. Now David Niven, the international bestselling author of the 100 Simple Secrets series, has collected the most current and significant data from more than a thousand of the best scientific studies on the profound relationship between humans and our canine companions. Niven has boiled these findings down to the one hundred essential ways dogs positively impact our lives, with each of these "simple secrets" accompanied by a true story. If you love your dog--and science tells us that you do--you will find this book indispensable.

Live longer: People who care for a dog are healthier and live an average of three years longer than those who do not.

Walk around the block: Anyone with a dog regularly takes walks, and walking not only burns calories but decreases stress. Dog owners walk 79 percent farther in an average week than people who do not own a dog.

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Chapter One

Dogs Have Personality

Human personalities are one of the aspects of our existence that make us interesting. We don't all react the same way to the same situation—and that very uniqueness can come to define who we are. In this, we are very much like dogs. Dogs may be feisty or friendly or fearless or phobic, but they are who they are.

When Erica took her dog Odie in to audition for the "Stupid Pet Tricks" segment on The David Letterman Show, the coordinator told her why the show has featured so many dogs and so few cats.

"Dogs have personality," he told her. "They really interact with you and can make a connection. Cats, on the other hand, are pretty much indifferent. It's hard to get a reaction out of them."

That was hardly a problem for Odie. Although Erica has no explanation for it, Odie responds when she says, "I love you, Odie."

Odie barks out a very human-sounding "I ruv you."

It was nothing Erica had taught Odie to do—he just did it.

The trick sparked the interest of the Letterman producers, and Erica and Odie appeared on the show a few weeks later. Odie's bark of love was so amazing that it was later voted one of the most memorable tv moments of the year.

While she doesn't know where this talent came from, Erica knows that Odie loves the attention. "After we'd been on the show, everybody we saw would stop us and talk to Odie. He was in heaven."

Personality tests show that dogs are as likely as humans to demonstrate consistent personalitytraits. (Gosling, Kwan, and John 2003)