Time and time again, dogs have been shown to have a beneficial impact on the health of children – reducing their chances eczema, asthma and even Crohn’s disease.
But scientists now say it’s just a one-way street, because pooches who spend time with more kids actually have worse health.
In a investigation of more than 21,000 pet owners, Arizona State University sought to find out what a dream lifestyle for optimal dog health would look like.
Researchers were shocked by the ‘detrimental’ impact of children, while finding that dogs from higher-income households were being diagnosed with more illnesses.
“We found that time spent with children actually had a detrimental effect on dogs’ health,” said Master of Science student Layla Brassington, who co-led the study.
Dogs that spend time with more children have been found to be less healthy overall (file image)
“The more children or time owners spend with their children, the less time they will spend with their furry children.”
PhD student Brianah McCoy added: “You can think of this as a problem of resource allocation, rather than bad kids for dogs.”
As part of the study, pet owners were first asked 33 questions to identify key factors that impact a dog’s health, including social time, age of owner, household income and neighborhood stability.
The scientists then compared this list to the number of illnesses reported in each of the 21,410 dogs – also taking into account their age and weight.
Socializing was found to have the greatest effect of all, with an influence five times greater than financial stability.
Although dogs that lived with more children were less healthy, those that lived with many other animals were significantly healthier.
Experts have also found that less stability in a home has a negative impact on a dog’s well-being.
“It shows that, like many social animals, including humans, having more social companions can be very important for a dog’s health,” McCoy said.
“Here we see how dogs can help us better understand how the environment around us influences health and the many ways dogs mirror the human experience. Just like humans, dogs in low-resource settings are more likely to have health issues.
Social time has been found to have the biggest impact on a dog’s health (file image)
Despite this, the researchers were intrigued by some of the results of their study, including the idea that dogs from higher income backgrounds had more disease.
While this may suggest they are in poorer health, scientists say it could also be the result of more frequent seeking of expensive veterinary care.
Exorbitant costs could deter some low-income workers from going to the vet, possibly leading to fewer diagnoses.
Even still, the scientists acknowledge that there may be an error in their conclusions, as the disease reports were based solely on owners’ information and not on medical records.
“We now want to understand how these external factors penetrate under the skin to affect the dog’s health – how does the environment change its body and its cells?” said Dr. Noah Snyder-Mackler.
“In future research, we will examine electronic veterinary medical records, molecular and immunological measurements, and home physical tests to generate more accurate measures of pet dog health and frailty.”
Ms McCoy added: “But the take home message is this: having a good network, having a good social connection is good for the dogs that live with us.
“But the structure and equity of our society also has a detrimental effect on our pets. And they’re not the ones thinking about their next paycheck or their health care.
READ MORE: Children are nicer if they have a dog in the family and are less likely to have emotional problems, study finds
According to a study, preschoolers may behave better and be kinder if they have a family dog.
Experts believe that young children, who spend more time with pets because they are not in school, learn empathy better.
Researchers from the University of Western Australia and the Telethon Kids Institute examined more than 1,600 families with children between the ages of two and five.
Parents completed a questionnaire that measured children’s antisocial behavior, problems interacting with others, and “prosocial” behaviors such as kindness and sharing.
Children from dog-owning households were 23% less likely to have difficulty with their emotions and social interactions compared to children who did not own a dog.
Researchers from the University of Western Australia and the Telethon Kids Institute have found that children who spend more time with pets learn better empathy (file photo)
