8 Reasons Owning a Dog is Good for You

What's a Dog for? There are a thousand answers to the question that is the title of my new book. This is because being human means needing help, of many different kinds, and sometimes there's not another to provide it. To start with, loneliness is not only an emotion--it's terrible for the health.

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Nothing to Sneeze At: Cats Worse Than Dogs for Allergies

If you have pet allergies, chances are it is Fluffy rather than Fido that's making you sneeze. While an estimated 10 percent of people are allergic to household pets, cat allergies are twice as common as dog allergies, according to the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. Among children, about one in seven between ages 6 and 19 prove to be allergic to cats. Contrary to popular belief, it's not cat fur that causes those itchy, watery eyes. Most people with cat allergies react to a protein found on cat skin called Fel d 1.

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Pets May Reduce Children's Allergy Risk

A study of almost 600 youngsters discovered that early exposure to cat and dogs prevented them becoming allergic later in life. The first year of a child’s life is the most important period in building up resistance, the results of the study in the journal Clinical & Experimental Allergy showed.

http://tinyurl.com/6cdsm85