Get a dog, live longer? Studies show pet ownership may support better health, but lifestyle matters

## Summary
Studies show pet ownership may support better health, but lifestyle matters Research suggests pets keep you healthier. Studies show that having a pet is associated with lower blood pressure , a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and lower rates of death after a heart attack or stroke. The benefit is so striking when it comes to heart health that the American Heart Association even has a scientific statement devoted to it, declaring that dog ownership “may be reasonable for reduction in cardiovascular disease risk.” (The organisation doesn’t advise getting a dog for the sole purpose of heart health, though.) “Pet owners in general, but dog owners in particular, have longer, healthier lives than people who don’t have pets,” Dr Kazi said. “The correlation is very convincing. Now the question is:Is this relationship causal?” SOME PET THEORIES Experts think one potential explanation for the health benefits is that people who own dogs tend to be more physically active than those who don’t.

## Article Content
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Wellness
Get a dog, live longer? Studies show pet ownership may support better health, but lifestyle matters
Research suggests pets keep you healthier. But there are some caveats.
Woman playing with her pet dog. (Photo: iStock/klingsup)
15 Mar 2026 07:46AM
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As a child, Dr Dhruv Kazi was obsessed with dogs. As a cardiologist and health economist, he
wrote about their health benefits
. But he didn’t get one of his own until his early 40s.
In 2019, he moved to Boston to take a job as the director of the Cardiac Critical Care Unit at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Then COVID-19 hit. Living alone and working in the intensive care unit, Dr Kazi said the first year of the pandemic was “immensely isolating.”
Everything changed in 2021 when he got Rumi, a high-energy, high-affection vizsla puppy. Thanks to Rumi, Dr Kazi started spending more time outside, got to know his neighbours and had a much-needed dose of “positive energy” and “goofiness” injected into his life.
“He was very much crucial to keeping my sanity,” Dr Kazi said.
Research dating back decades has found that people who own pets, especially dogs, tend to be healthier than people who don’t.
Studies show that having a pet is associated with
lower blood pressure
, a
reduced risk of cardiovascular disease
and
lower rates of death
after a heart attack or stroke. And a
large review of studies
published in 2019 found that owning a dog was associated with a 24 per cent lower risk of dying from all causes over the course of 10 years.
The benefit is so striking when it comes to heart health that the American Heart Association even has a
scientific statement
devoted to it, declaring that dog ownership “may be reasonable for reduction in cardiovascular disease risk.” (The organisation doesn’t advise getting a dog for the sole purpose of heart health, though.)
“Pet owners in general, but dog owners in particular, have longer, healthier lives than people who don’t have pets,” Dr Kazi said. “The correlation is very convincing. Now the question is:Is this relationship causal?”
SOME PET THEORIES
Experts think one potential explanation for the health benefits is that people who own dogs tend to be more physically active than those who don’t.
Dr Adrian Bauman, an emeritus professor of public health at the University of Sydney in Australia,
published a meta-analysis in 2012
that found most dog owners who walked their dogs met the
standard exercise guidelines
of 150 minutes of moderately intense physical activity per week. But only 60 percent of owners actually walked them.
“We have to distinguish dog ownership
–
having a dog in your household
–
from dog walking,” Dr Bauman said.
In another study he conducted, there was
no difference in mortality risk
when dog owners and non-owners were equally active. ( Dr Bauman’s dog, Jed, is a Cavapoo, a cross between a Cavalier King Charles spaniel and a poodle.)
Other research
backs up that having a dog doesn’t guarantee you’ll have healthy habits. And in fact, if your lifestyle is unhealthy, your dog’s might be as well. Tove Fall, a professor of molecular epidemiology at Uppsala University in Sweden and a former veterinarian, has conducted research showing that if a dog has Type 2 diabetes, its owner is also
more likely to develop it
.
“You share your home environment with your dog,” Dr Fall said. “So if you are not living the healthiest lifestyle, maybe your dog is not doing that as well.” ( DrFall has two dogs: Totte, a Labrador retriever mix, and Vega, a Dutch spaniel breed called a Kooikerhondje.)
Experts say another way dogs may benefit people’s health and longevity is by improving mental well-being. People
who are single
or live alone appear to gain most from the companionship a pet offers.
Dog ownership “really has some substantial health benefits in countering the health consequences of loneliness, of isolation,” Dr Bauman said.
Lest cat lovers feel left out, a few studies have also found that owning a cat was associated with
a lower risk of dying
from a heart attack or stroke, possibly by providing stress relief.
Or the health benefits of pet ownership may simply be an effect of demographics. Dog owners tend to be younger and richer than non-owners, characteristics that correspond with better health. In
one large meta-analysis
, when things like age, income and health behaviours such as smoking were factored into the statistical analyses, many health benefits of dog ownership disappeared.
It’s hard to tease apart whether dogs make people healthier or if healthier people are more likely to have dogs, Dr Fall said. “If you’re ver

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## Expert Analysis

### Merits
- The benefit is so striking when it comes to heart health that the American Heart Association even has a scientific statement devoted to it, declaring that dog ownership “may be reasonable for reduction in cardiovascular disease risk.” (The organisation doesn’t advise getting a dog for the sole purpose of heart health, though.) “Pet owners in general, but dog owners in particular, have longer, healthier lives than people who don’t have pets,” Dr Kazi said. “The correlation is very convincing.
- Tove Fall, a professor of molecular epidemiology at Uppsala University in Sweden and a former veterinarian, has conducted research showing that if a dog has Type 2 diabetes, its owner is also more likely to develop it . “You share your home environment with your dog,” Dr Fall said. “So if you are not living the healthiest lifestyle, maybe your dog is not doing that as well.” ( DrFall has two dogs: Totte, a Labrador retriever mix, and Vega, a Dutch spaniel breed called a Kooikerhondje.) Experts say another way dogs may benefit people’s health and longevity is by improving mental well-being.

### Areas for Consideration
- Studies show that having a pet is associated with lower blood pressure , a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and lower rates of death after a heart attack or stroke.
- And a large review of studies published in 2019 found that owning a dog was associated with a 24 per cent lower risk of dying from all causes over the course of 10 years.
- The benefit is so striking when it comes to heart health that the American Heart Association even has a scientific statement devoted to it, declaring that dog ownership “may be reasonable for reduction in cardiovascular disease risk.” (The organisation doesn’t advise getting a dog for the sole purpose of heart health, though.) “Pet owners in general, but dog owners in particular, have longer, healthier lives than people who don’t have pets,” Dr Kazi said. “The correlation is very convincing.

### Implications
- Studies show pet ownership may support better health, but lifestyle matters Research suggests pets keep you healthier.
- The benefit is so striking when it comes to heart health that the American Heart Association even has a scientific statement devoted to it, declaring that dog ownership “may be reasonable for reduction in cardiovascular disease risk.” (The organisation doesn’t advise getting a dog for the sole purpose of heart health, though.) “Pet owners in general, but dog owners in particular, have longer, healthier lives than people who don’t have pets,” Dr Kazi said. “The correlation is very convincing.
- And in fact, if your lifestyle is unhealthy, your dog’s might be as well.
- Tove Fall, a professor of molecular epidemiology at Uppsala University in Sweden and a former veterinarian, has conducted research showing that if a dog has Type 2 diabetes, its owner is also more likely to develop it . “You share your home environment with your dog,” Dr Fall said. “So if you are not living the healthiest lifestyle, maybe your dog is not doing that as well.” ( DrFall has two dogs: Totte, a Labrador retriever mix, and Vega, a Dutch spaniel breed called a Kooikerhondje.) Experts say another way dogs may benefit people’s health and longevity is by improving mental well-being.

### Expert Commentary
This article covers dog, health, pet topics. Notable strengths include discussion of dog. Areas of concern are also raised. Readability: Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.0. Word count: 1007.