BBC Knowledge 2017 02

D

OGS: the universal stress-buster. That’s the claim

increasingly made for ‘man’s best friend’ as dogs find

their way into all kinds of unexpected medical

situations. Last year, my own institution, the University of

Bristol, teamed up with the Guide Dogs charity to offer

stressed students a puppy play session. This was by no means

the first of its kind: more than a thousand universities have

put animal visitation programmes into place to help students.

At Bristol University, the 600 slots quickly filled up. Yet the

students’ enthusiasm is supported by research. In one study,

after as little as seven minutes’ interaction with a friendly

dog, students reported significantly less anxiety and greater

feelings of contentment. Viewing a slideshow of the same

dog for the same length of time had no effect on their mood.

It seems that actually stroking and playing with the dog is

crucial. Sorry, YouTube.

As well as stress, dogs are widely touted as a panacea for

all kinds of ills such as high blood pressure, loneliness, heart

disease and depression, to name but a few. A quick search of

the internet will reveal countless articles extolling the health

benefits of keeping pets. Some of these claims are supported

by science, others remain to be investigated thoroughly,

while a few seem to be little more than wishful thinking.

So what does canine companionship really offer?

Stressed students clearly value the calming sensation of

stroking a dog, and this effect is well supported by

experiments. In this kind of research, a scientist will usually

ask a person to read aloud to a stranger (which seems pretty

tame compared to the sheer terror of an exam).

Nevertheless, measurable reductions in stress have been

recorded just by placing a dog in the same room as the

subject. If stroking the dog is allowed, the reduction in

stress is even greater. Moreover, it’s not simply that the

reader reports feeling less stressed, it’s actually ref lected

in their physiology too: their blood pressure falls and their

heart beats more slowly and rhythmically.

Different strokes

Long-term stress is a trigger for heart disease, so not

surprisingly it’s been suggested – and is now widely believed

• that the relaxing effect of contact with dogs might benefit
  cardiovascular health over a lifetime. Early studies supported
  this idea, showing that dog owners were more likely to
  recover from heart attacks than people with no pets.
  However, the act of petting alone is unlikely to have been
  a major factor, since cat owners seem to be more susceptible
  to heart disease. Focus therefore shifted to the known
  benefits of taking regular moderate exercise, which many
  dog owners do. Not all, of course: a surprising number of pet
  dogs get their only exercise in their owner’s back garden.
  Moreover, many dog walkers seem more interested in their
  smartphones than what their dog is up to, and are therefore

Dogs at universities

have helped students

de-stress

| ANIMALS

NATURE

66 72 February 2017February 2017