Did you know that your furry friends can help make you healthier? While we’re all familiar with animal dander allergies or respiratory problems in response to animals that may affect an individual’s health negatively, there are plenty of reasons that your pet may actually make you healthier!

The health benefits of pet ownership are significant, as you’ve just read—and, this does not even bring into account those animals who are specially trained to keep their human partners safe and healthy. Service dogs are trained to work with individuals with a variety of conditions—from diabetes and alerting the handler to low blood sugar, to epilepsy and alerting to and assisting in the event of a seizure, and even sniffing out allergens that a person may have life-threatening reactions to—to providing supportive care for individuals with anxiety or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. These dogs are specially trained from a very young age to be on high alert for their human partners and assist them in the event they are needed—smart puppies, for sure!

Animals form a sense of loyalty and a bond with humans like no other—this doesn’t change whether that animal is a service animal responding to an emergency or a dog barking at a mailman, pets want their humans to be happy, and they want to be happy and healthy in return! For pets who may have some special medical needs, one of our keychains can easily be modified to be a pet medical ID tag for your furry friend in case he or she gets lost, notifying the right people that some extra care might be needed until they are brought home.

Did you know that April is Shelter Animal Awareness month? There’s no better time to adopt a new animal friend and improve your health at the same time!