According to an article published by AARP, a dog can help reduce the vicious cycle of isolation and its consequences including depression.
The author of the article, Katherine Bouton, who has severe hearing loss herself, decided that after she couldn’t hear music and audio books through her headphones while she would be out running, she was just left with her thoughts. She decided that as a way to stay motivated to run every day, she needed a motivator, and that motivator turned out to be a puppy!
Having a puppy forced Katherine outside of her comfort zone while she reaped the benefits.
- Puppies prompt conversations with strangers – which hopefully develop friendships.
- Having a young puppy, full of energy, has been known to help reduce stress and lower blood pressure and cholesterol.
- When you’re not focused on listening to your music or audiobooks, you tend to focus on your surroundings a bit more. The changing colors of the leaves on the trees, or the squirrels hiding their food, for example.