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Is Your Dog Your Best Friend?

Is Your Dog Your Best Friend?
by
August 20, 2025
in Humane Education Column
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By: Judy Lore, AVHS Volunteer columnist

There are so many reasons why we can claim our pups as our best friends. Maybe it’s the way they welcome us home no matter how many times on the same day. Or they entertain us with their craziness. We certainly take enough photos of them to qualify as best friends. Let’s look at some other reasons.

Entertainment – They can be so entertaining. From zoomies to snuggling up on top of you to get pets and scratches. A study conducted by BarkBox discovered that we post a picture or talk about our dog six times a week on social media. (I try to limit posting my pets too often but admit to reposting several daily dog-related stories and images. I’m positive some of my friends wish otherwise).

Companionship – How many of your human friends want to do EVERYTHING you do at the same time in the same place? Didn’t think so. But our dog is often up for whatever we are doing whenever we do it. For most dogs, snacking on the couch watching TV? Definitely. Going for a car ride? Double definitely. Wanna go for a walk? Why are you even asking? How about us taking a nap? I’ll beat you to bed. They are up for just about everything – except maybe a visit to the vet.

Stress Reducer – Your fur-ever friend can put you in a better mood by releasing levels of oxytocin, the love hormone, and by reducing cortisol levels, the stress hormone. Except today when my younger dog destroyed the just purchased bananas I left on the kitchen table! She doesn’t even like bananas. However, if she just gazes into my eyes, oxytocin will be released and I’ll forgive her.

Exceptional Coworkers – Dogs have worked alongside us humans for centuries. There are hieroglyphs in ancient Egypt and Greece depicting this working relationship between dogs and humans. In contemporary times, dogs help us humans with their extraordinary sense of smell to sniff out drugs, weapons, finding missing persons, and detecting arson among so many other ways of helping, so much assistance for the simple reward of a toy or treat. Then there are the positively amazing service dogs and therapy dogs who sense a person’s mood and need for attention and love. They are so docile and attentive to the needs of their people.

Sleep Buddies – Furry dogs provide a sense of comfort and security when sleeping alongside their humans. No one gets near my house without the dogs letting me know. They are a united force in deterring whoever might be there. Yes, they sometimes wreak a bit of havoc on the comforter, but I prefer advance warning to pristine bed clothes.
Loyalty – Need more be said about the super strong loyalty of dogs to their humans? Just reflect on Lassie saving Timmy countless times and other canine heroes keeping their people out of trouble. Many books have been written – fictional and true – about their daring escapades helping their humans.

Exercise – Dogs help us get more exercise. We walk with them, bike with them, and run with them. All of this helps keep us healthier.

Longer Lifespan – We all need to get out more and socialize and our dogs facilitate this because they need out regularly. This decreases isolation and loneliness, which is something we all need.

Unconditional Love – Our dogs are right there beside us to celebrate, to comfort and to simply be attentive to our moods. That’s the definition of unconditional love.

Understanding Us – Dogs have evolved over thousands of years being with us to understand us fairly well. They sometimes, I think, know what we’re going to do before we even think of doing it. They have synced their behavior with our behavior over time.

So… give each of them a belly rub and tell them how much they mean to us. And don’t forget a treat.

 

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