Dogs and Wellbeing

https://www.usefulscience.org/podcast/40

The Useful Science team unveils the many benefits of dogs on our well-being. Researchers in Canada found that therapy dogs can positively impact patients’ experiences in stressful hospital settings plagued by long wait times. And in an observational study of families with young children, researchers found that pre-schoolers who played with the family dog three or more times per week displayed fewer conduct problems, and more prosocial behaviors, compared to children who had little or no dog-time in their lives.

Music by Solomon Krause-Imlach.

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Show Notes

• A case study of the patient wait experience in an emergency department with therapy dogs
• The relationship between dog ownership, dog play, family dog walking, and pre-schooler social–emotional development: findings from the PLAYCE observational study