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100 Simple Secrets Why Dogs Make Us Happy: The Science Behind What Dog Lovers Already Know – 1,000 Studies on Health, Communication, and the Human-Canine Bond
Why do people who have dogs live happier, longer, and more fulfulling lives? Sociologists and veterinarians have spent years investigating the positive effects that dogs have on people's health and happiness yet their findings are inaccessible to ordinary people, hidden in obscure journals to be shared with other experts.
Now the international bestselling author of the 100 Simple Secrets series has collected the most current and significant data from more than a thousand of the best scientific studies on the profound relationship between humans and our canine companions. These findings have been boiled down to the one hundred essential ways dogs positively impact our lives. Each fact is accompanied by a inspiring true story. If you love your dog, and science tells us that you do, this book will inspire and entertain.
Communicate It sounds odd to say a creature that communicates with barking and body language can have such a profound effect on human communication. But by providing a common point of reference and concern, dogs help us to feel a connection to other humans. That connection makes us feel more comfortable communicating with each other. When meeting a new person, the presence of a dog reduces the time before people feel comfortable while talking with each other by 45 percent.
Live There is perhaps no better gift that dogs offer us humans than this simple fact. People who care for a dog live longer, healthier lives than those who do not. On average, people who cared for dogs during their lives lived 3 years longer than people who never had a dog.
No Monkey Primates are genetically more similar to humans than any other creature. But try to tell a chimpanzee something and you will be hard pressed to get your message across. Dogs are uniquely attuned to the messages we send. Dogs study humans and have evolved to build social skills that help them to function around us. Dogs are 52 percent more likely to follow human cues such as pointing toward a source of food than are primates.
Around the Good habits are often misunderstood as difficult or unpleasant chores. But there is tremendous value in the simple act of taking a walk. Walking not only burns calories, it also decreases stress. Having a dog means regularly talking walks – it's something you do for your dog but in truth your dog is doing for you. Dog owners walk 79 percent farther in an average week than non–dog owners.
Now the international bestselling author of the 100 Simple Secrets series has collected the most current and significant data from more than a thousand of the best scientific studies on the profound relationship between humans and our canine companions. These findings have been boiled down to the one hundred essential ways dogs positively impact our lives. Each fact is accompanied by a inspiring true story. If you love your dog, and science tells us that you do, this book will inspire and entertain.
Communicate It sounds odd to say a creature that communicates with barking and body language can have such a profound effect on human communication. But by providing a common point of reference and concern, dogs help us to feel a connection to other humans. That connection makes us feel more comfortable communicating with each other. When meeting a new person, the presence of a dog reduces the time before people feel comfortable while talking with each other by 45 percent.
Live There is perhaps no better gift that dogs offer us humans than this simple fact. People who care for a dog live longer, healthier lives than those who do not. On average, people who cared for dogs during their lives lived 3 years longer than people who never had a dog.
No Monkey Primates are genetically more similar to humans than any other creature. But try to tell a chimpanzee something and you will be hard pressed to get your message across. Dogs are uniquely attuned to the messages we send. Dogs study humans and have evolved to build social skills that help them to function around us. Dogs are 52 percent more likely to follow human cues such as pointing toward a source of food than are primates.
Around the Good habits are often misunderstood as difficult or unpleasant chores. But there is tremendous value in the simple act of taking a walk. Walking not only burns calories, it also decreases stress. Having a dog means regularly talking walks – it's something you do for your dog but in truth your dog is doing for you. Dog owners walk 79 percent farther in an average week than non–dog owners.
- GenresNonfictionDogs
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2007
About the author
David Niven
33 books35 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
David^Niven, Ph.D., is the author 100 Simple Secrets book series
David^^Niven, actor and author of The Moon's a Balloon
David^Niven, Ph.D., is the author 100 Simple Secrets book series
David^^Niven, actor and author of The Moon's a Balloon
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 12, 2024
100 Simple Secrets Why Dogs Make Us Happy
This book contains 100 mini stories backed with a data fact of why dogs are good for our health. This is a series book about 100 Simple Secrets and this one is about dogs. I enjoyed reading it and the stories made me smile.
This book contains 100 mini stories backed with a data fact of why dogs are good for our health. This is a series book about 100 Simple Secrets and this one is about dogs. I enjoyed reading it and the stories made me smile.
February 14, 2018
This me is a feel good book, but best read in small doses as it with a formula. Each section and secret has a personal story and backs up the story with data. I've never read a book in this series and this is the first I'd heard about it, but I enjoyed the stories which were well balanced and interesting and all heart-warming about people and their dogs. However a book like this, with 100 stories, is best in small doses. This book would be perfect for travel or for waiting for appointments.
May 3, 2015
Cute book good for dog lovers, who probably already know all of the "secrets" why dogs make us happy. Yes, the science behind each "secret" is only a blurb (and it would have been nice to have more information), and each anecdote seemed only tangentially connected to the science. But the stories were still heartwarming. A good read for a blue day or a good gift for someone who understand the value of canine companions.
October 5, 2012
An attempt to scientifically prove the benefits of having a dog. It did convince me, but it doesn't deal enough with families. Most of the examples involve solitary people. And it seems to repeat itself quite a few times.
February 9, 2011
Quick and fun reminders about why I love the canine species.
July 16, 2015
Short and sweet facts with good anecdotes.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews