Dogs are good for your health: ... - Cure Parkinson's

Cure Parkinson's

26,583 members27,899 posts

Dogs are good for your health

MBAnderson profile image
28 Replies

mayoclinichealthsystem.org/....

Written by
MBAnderson profile image
MBAnderson
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
28 Replies
LAJ12345 profile image
LAJ12345

Albie

Albie at the beach
Zella23 profile image
Zella23

My daughter’s golden retriever brought us hours of pleasure and companionship over the last ten years. My husband used to walk for miles with him before and after his PD diagnosis. He spent holidays with us and we saw him most days and frequently he took us out for a walk with him. He was a fabulous family dog,

Unfortunately he lost his battle with cancer earlier this year and everybody has felt the terrible loss.

Dog in autumn leaves
MBAnderson profile image
MBAnderson in reply toZella23

Yes, losing a dog is grievous.

MarionP profile image
MarionP in reply toZella23

Yes goldens are the best, perfect mix of personality and friendliness. Wonderfully not stressful and just a fountain of joy, and above all, manageable. Our Samoyed is also extremely wonderful, but definitely not stress-free, quite 180° the opposite! Because of her loving spunkiness, energy, and complete UNtrustworthiness, we have learned the value of manageability!! She keeps trying to herd us and the cats.

If we had the room in the ability to fence I would get a second, a German Shepherd Dog.

MarionP profile image
MarionP in reply toZella23

Yes it's a terrible loss.. the only cure I know of is to just find a replacement. Rescue dogs make wonderful pets.

WinnieThePoo profile image
WinnieThePoo in reply toMarionP

Yes - rescue if you can. We lost our previous 2 GSDs within a year (aged 13 +12). Louis came to us at 3 years old. His previous owner died of cancer. Mind, we nearly bit off more than we could chew. He is my 6th rescue dog and by a long way the most challenging. GSDs with serious behavioral problems are big scary dogs. Make sure you know what you are taking on. But if you choose well it is so rewarding. Louis is just gorgeous now 😍

Zella23 profile image
Zella23 in reply toWinnieThePoo

Our daughter’s dog was just a joy, she got him just before her son was born and it was such a special time for the whole family. He was friendly, loyal, playful and we all loved him unconditionally.

We lost him at 9 years quite young for a golden retriever. No replacements at the moment. My daughter trained to look after guide dogs with respite care, and did that for a while. Now she has a full time job so won’t have a dog as she doesn’t want to leave him alone all day.

Golden retriever with toy
LindaP50 profile image
LindaP50

Hubby loves dogs. When we visit people with dogs, he'll call out to the dog to pet. A dog would be good company for him.

The other side of the coin is I would be the one to feed, walk, and make sure the dog doesn't get underfoot of hubby (high fall risk).

Love the pictures being posted!!!!

MBAnderson profile image
MBAnderson in reply toLindaP50

One of the (many) benefits is that the pwp does the dog walking.

LindaP50 profile image
LindaP50 in reply toMBAnderson

Yes, if the PWP can walk without a walker or without a cane. Holding onto a leash and having the dog pull at all would mean a fall.

For those with PWP and can walk a dog - enjoy enjoy enjoy. In the meantime, my hubby will enjoy dogs when we visit others who own a dog.

MBAnderson profile image
MBAnderson in reply toLindaP50

especially if the dog chases squirrels

LindaP50 profile image
LindaP50 in reply toMBAnderson

Oh my! What a vision. 😆

Zella23 profile image
Zella23 in reply toMBAnderson

Yes and cats!

JJAJJ profile image
JJAJJ in reply toLindaP50

We have never been without a dog over the years. When Charles (amazing dog) died I vowed no more dogs! However 5 years ago we rescued Bella, a tiny JackChi with attitude who thinks she is a Rottweiler and Bruno a Jack Russell who adores children and hates dogs. My hwp is bed/chair bound so Bella and Bruno make him smile and keep him warm daily, so good. On the other side of the coin to add to your list they are demanding dogs, hooligans when out for a walk, shout at other dogs even when the dogs are on their own property. Bruno chases dogs when off the lead on the beach., understandably some owner don’t like it ! Bella likes regular exercise, mainly sniffing and weeing …stops..move 5 paces…sniff and wee etc. They look forward to me coming back from shopping to raid the bags for their treats and them stare at me for the next course of entertainment. I do love them though but definable no more dogs in this house !

WinnieThePoo profile image
WinnieThePoo

King Louis agrees

Dog on a big bale of straw
LAJ12345 profile image
LAJ12345 in reply toWinnieThePoo

Oh clever boy

Esperanto profile image
Esperanto

Unforgivable, how could I forget my loyal four-legged friend in my list of PD inhibitors. I adopted her from a Turkish shelter 6 years ago because she desperately wanted to be petted and got her paws stuck in the wire mesh. Due to this quirk, I believe she is the perfect PD dog with an insatiable cuddle factor!

This positive effect of petting your pet is not explicitly mentioned in your article, yet it appears to have the most impact alongside the numerous positive physical effects. A deficiency in oxytocin is associated with various symptoms, including Parkinson's. Similar to a massage, prayer, dancing, using social media, masturbation, and achieving orgasm, petting dogs stimulates the production of the cuddle hormone oxytocin.

Hiking together
Grumpy77 profile image
Grumpy77

I almost owned a dog when I brought in a lovely cute stray dog. I was able to form a very strong bond with him before he was taken away. He was always rolling over demanding a scratch and never wanted to be taken away

MBAnderson profile image
MBAnderson in reply toGrumpy77

why was he taken away?

Grumpy77 profile image
Grumpy77 in reply toMBAnderson

When the animal people scanned him, they found he was chipped. So they took him, apparently, to reconcile him with his original owner he strayed from

kaypeeoh profile image
kaypeeoh

The problem with dogs is they tend to DIE after 12 or 14 years. Cats might be a better choice. They die at similar ages but never much cared about you anyway. You were just movable furniture to a cat. I was a veterinarian for 40 years. And had to put thousands of pets to sleep. It was always surprising how they sometimes blamed me.

Grumpy77 profile image
Grumpy77 in reply tokaypeeoh

But you can't walk a cat, so you loose the movement and exercise advantage. Also cats are not loyal to you. Yes you get emotional when you loose dogs, but that's also part of the joy and can always get another dog anyway

parkie13 profile image
parkie13 in reply tokaypeeoh

They always want to live, some of them want to live more than other ones. It's so hard. I'm sorry that you had to do it.

pacwest profile image
pacwest

Good ol Riley ! !

Snow image
chartist profile image
chartist

I 100% agree, Marc and I miss mine very much!

Art

MBAnderson profile image
MBAnderson in reply tochartist

R U going to rescue another one? It would be good for you (and the dog.)

MBAnderson profile image
MBAnderson

news-medical.net/health/Ani....

MBAnderson profile image
MBAnderson

newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/...

Not what you're looking for?

You may also like...

Are daily supplements good for health?

Because a lot of supplements are lab-made, there may be heavy metals, like mercury, and minerals...
Farooqji profile image

Ketogenic diet for brain health

Please tell me what you think, or know of, or your experience of keto diet for mental health such...
TL500 profile image

Integrative psychiatry micronutrients for mental health

For those of you wondering if micronutrients might help you. From the Hardy’s site. No I am not...
LAJ12345 profile image

The Number One Tool for Improving Your Health this Year

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/diagnosis-diet/201812/the-number-one-tool-improving-your-hea
MBAnderson profile image

Microbiome - How bacteria are changing your mood

Has anyone tried getting Microbiome tested ? https://www.viome.com/ Interesting article below...

Moderation team

See all
CPT_Aleksandra profile image
CPT_AleksandraAdministrator
CPT_Anaya profile image
CPT_AnayaAdministrator

Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.

Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.