Could Man's Best Friend Be Man's Best Medicine?

A study of the interaction between humans and dogs is the first for the UA's new Human-Animal Interaction Research Initiative.

Most dog owners will tell you their furry friends make them feel good emotionally. But the health benefits of owning a dog may not end there. Researchers at the University of Arizona are recruiting participants for a study exploring whether dogs can improve human health by having a probiotic effect on the body. The research will focus specifically on dogs' effect on the health of older adults. "We've co-evolved with dogs over the millennia, but nobody really understands what it is about this dog-human relationship that makes us feel good about being around dogs," said Kim Kelly, an anthropology doctoral student and one of the primary investigators on the study. "Is it just that they're fuzzy and we like to pet them, or is there something else going on under the skin? The question really is: Has the relationship between dogs and humans gotten under the skin? And we believe it has."