How Dogs Improve Your Mental Health and Make Life Better
If you know me personally, you probably know about my dogs. I have two members of what I affectionately call the Low Rider Crew: Bucky and Hank.
Bucky is a mix of many things, but mostly Dachshund, Staffordshire Terrier, and Pit Bull. Hank is a Basset Hound. They are both short, long, full of personality, and very different from one another.
Having dogs has added a lot to my life. They give me companionship, get me outside, make me laugh, and give me something outside of myself to care for. They have helped me feel a greater sense of purpose and fulfillment.
And I want to emphasize something important: that does not mean having dogs is always easy.
Sometimes the things that add the most meaning to our lives also challenge us.
Purpose Doesn’t Have to Be Something Huge
When we talk about finding purpose, it can sound like we are supposed to discover some enormous calling or life mission. But purpose can also exist in the small, repetitive parts of our days.
Sometimes purpose looks like getting out of bed because someone needs breakfast.
Sometimes it is going outside when you would rather stay on the couch.
Sometimes it is filling a water bowl, going for a walk, throwing a toy for the hundredth time, or seeing a little face waiting for you when you get home.
My dogs depend on me, and there is something grounding about that responsibility. Even during difficult or stressful seasons, they still need care, movement, attention, and connection. Their needs create structure in my day and continually pull me back into the present moment.
Dogs Get Us Moving
We already know that physical movement can play an important role in supporting mental and physical health. One interesting benefit of having a dog is that they can give us a built-in reason to move.
A 2019 study examining dog ownership and physical activity found that dog owners were more likely than people without dogs to engage in recreational walking and were significantly more likely to meet recommended physical activity guidelines.
That makes sense to me. There are plenty of days when I might not independently decide, You know what sounds great right now? Going outside for another walk.
But Bucky and Hank don’t particularly care whether I feel motivated.
They need to move, sniff, explore, and experience the world. In meeting their needs, I often end up meeting some of my own too.
A walk can provide movement, fresh air, a change in environment, and a break from whatever has been occupying our minds. It doesn’t have to be an intense workout to count.
Bucky Taught Me About Advocacy
Bucky has probably taught me just as much through his challenges as he has through the easy moments.
Bucky is scared of strangers.
As someone with people-pleasing tendencies, having a dog who does not want every person to approach or pet him has required me to grow.
I have had to learn to say things like, “Please give him some space.”
I’ve had to prioritize what Bucky needs over whether another person might think I’m being rude.
I’ve had to recognize that someone else’s good intentions don’t automatically mean Bucky has to be comfortable with their behavior.
And I’ve had to become comfortable advocating for a boundary that Bucky cannot communicate with words.
Interestingly, learning to advocate for him has helped strengthen my ability to advocate in general.
Bucky doesn’t need to become comfortable with every stranger just to make other people happy. He is allowed to have boundaries. My responsibility is to notice his communication and help him feel safe rather than asking him to tolerate something simply because saying no feels uncomfortable for me.
There is a lesson in there for humans, too.
The Hard Moments Don’t Cancel Out the Meaningful Ones
I also don’t want to romanticize dog ownership.
Dogs can be stressful. They can be expensive. They can have behavioral challenges. They wake you up, get sick, destroy things, require planning, and occasionally make you wonder why you voluntarily brought this much chaos into your house.
The research on pet ownership and mental health reflects some of this complexity. Having a pet is not a guaranteed path to better mental health, and studies examining pet ownership and psychological well-being have produced mixed results.
But something can be difficult and meaningful at the same time.
For me, Bucky and Hank have brought more purpose, movement, laughter, connection, and fulfillment into my life. They have also challenged me. In Bucky’s case, loving him well has required me to become a stronger advocate and get more comfortable setting boundaries.
Maybe that’s part of why our relationships with animals can feel so significant.
We aren’t just taking care of them.
Sometimes, without realizing it, we are growing alongside them.
Connection, Purpose, and Mental Health
Supporting our mental health doesn’t always mean adding another formal coping skill to our toolbox. Sometimes it means looking at the ordinary parts of our lives that help us feel connected, needed, active, or grounded.
For some people, that may include a pet. For others, it might be relationships, community, volunteering, movement, creativity, nature, or caring for something that matters to them.
The goal isn’t to find one perfect thing that makes us feel good all the time.
It’s to build a life that contains things that feel meaningful, even when those things occasionally make life a little harder.
For me, two very short dogs have become part of that meaningful life.
And I wouldn’t trade my Low Rider Crew for anything.
References
Westgarth, C., Christley, R. M., Christian, H. E., et al. (2019). Dog owners are more likely to meet physical activity guidelines than people without a dog: An investigation of the association between dog ownership and physical activity levels in a UK community. Scientific Reports, 9, 5704.
Scoresby, K. J., Strand, E. B., Ng, Z., et al. (2021). Pet ownership and quality of life: A systematic review of the literature. Veterinary Sciences, 8(12), 332.
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