I am writing this post in memory of my sweet dog Mo who passed away this week. I have been thinking a lot about the extremely strong relationship between us humans and dogs and all that they give us. Although the article sited below is almost 2 years old, there is some good information there. Dog ownership was shown to be associated with decreased cardiovascular and all cause death. Dogs get us to be more active and get outdoors. They provide social support. They help us deal better with stress by decreasing our fight and flight sympathetic stress response, which is a really big deal when stress makes every single disease process worse. I’m a big proponent of stress management and do practice what I preach. When I do my Heart Math, a tool used to train ourselves to bring our bodies into rest and digest parasympathetic mode, I am able to get into this mode by thinking about my dogs. I imagine my sweet Mo basking in the sun or prancing around on our walks, or looking at me with his eyes full of love. I am grateful for the time I had with this very special dog and all he gave to me and my family.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/22/well/family/dog-owners-live-longer.html?fbclid=IwAR0LuCHOet5VcHou7-BzFw6LT8EixHiLRy6YkkQbFfwqkrR9Isf_eZ-Ago4