The entire article is worth reading -- and I wish I had seen it before Christmas but I thought this part was interesting:

And having a dog � even a dog that digs in your flower beds and sneaks cheese off the hors d'oeuvre tray when no one is looking � can greatly reduce stress and depression and even reduces mortality among men recovering from a heart attack.

That sense of deep, non-verbal companionship is no illusion. A study published in the November 2002 issue of Science magazine found that dogs, having been bred specifically to interact with humans, are better at "reading" human behavior than any other animal, including chimpanzees. That may explain the results of another inquiry, in which people were asked to perform a difficult activity three different ways: alone, in the presence of their spouse and in the presence of their dog. Blood pressure and heart rate went up the most with the spouse watching, less when the subject was alone, and the least when the onlooker offered no advice or criticism, just silently wagged his tail.

Now go read all of "How Much is that Doggie in the Window -- Thoughts about finding the right dog" by Penelope Mesic.

This is my third entry tonight... please click the Last button to see the one before this one. Thanks!
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