One of my dogs, Brownie (pic here and here - the golden chihuahua) has this funny limp once in a while. I was concerned at first but I noticed that it comes and goes.

At first, i thought maybe he stepped on something or more that it’s a mental thing. But apparently not.

This condition is called “luxating patella“. The lay-man non-medical definition, according to Wikipedia, is

Luxating patella (or trick knee, subluxation of patella, or floating patella), is a condition in which the patella, or kneecap, dislocates or moves out of its normal location.

Patellar luxation is a common condition in dogs, particularly small and miniature breeds. The condition usually becomes evident between the ages of 4 to 6 months. It also occurs in cats, especially the Domestic Shorthair.

It also occurs in humans, where it can be associated with damage to the anterior cruciate ligament.

If you’re in denial or wondering if your dog has this condition, here’s a clip that shows a Boston Terrier with luxating patella. Pay attention to the little hops he does every so often (the first hop is on the 20-22′th second of the clip and a couple more after that):

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(Disclaimer: I know the title says “get a pet”, but this story is probably more geared towards dogs b/c I, the author of this post, have had only dogs in my lifetime. But I am certain that cat owners can relate to this in almost every aspect.) 

When I was a little boy, I had this tiny little dog that I used to play with every day after a morning at kindergarten or elementary school. I don’t recall his name or the breed, but I do remember him and I having the most incredible time exploring the backyard of my parent’s house. Of course, I was, just like any other little boy, probably torturous to the dog. One thing I still remember is me pulling the tail of the dog. Not just a tug, but pulling the tail and dragging the dog around the backyard. Now I think about, it was probably cruel and painful to the dog, but at the time, i was having a blast. Maybe that’s why he ran away, along with 4-5 more dogs that my parents adopted afterwards. ;/

Now as a grown up, i still remember the good ol’ days of having a dog in the family. Of course, you cannot quantify happiness or what was the specific source of happiness, but I do recall having some of my greatest childhood memories had a dog in it somewhere in the picture.

I do not know why man (i.e. human) has this mysterious bond with this creature. Dogs aren’t humans and humans aren’t dogs, obviously. But I do know that when you have a dog (or a cat), your life is impacted in a way deeper than most people think.

In fact, NIH (a US government entity, National Institute of Health) has a report out that outlines the benefit of having a pet:

A 10-month prospective study was carried out which examined changes in behaviour and health status in 71 adult subjects following the acquisition of a new pet (either dogs or cats). A group of 26 subjects without pets served as a comparison over the same period. Both pet-owning groups reported a highly significant reduction in minor health problems during the first month following pet acquisition, and this effect was sustained in dog owners through to 10 months. The pet-acquiring groups also showed improvements in their scores on the 30-item General Health Questionnaire over the first 6 months and, in dog owners, this improvement was maintained until 10 months. In addition, dog owners took considerably more physical exercise while walking their dogs than the other two groups, and this effect continued throughout the period of study. The group without pets exhibited no statistically significant changes in health or behaviour, apart from a small increase in recreational walking. The results provide evidence that pet acquisition may have positive effects on human health and behaviour, and that in some cases these effects are relatively long term.

I am certain most people have heard that having a pet lowers blood pressure, decreases chance of cardiovascular disease, etc etc. In fact, this article says that  it’s probably MORE beneficial to pet your dog/cat than to talk to another human being:

Recent research on human-dog interactions showed that talking to and petting a dog are accompanied by lower blood pressure (BP) in the person than human conversation. To clarify whether cognition, conditioning, or tactual contact exerted the major influence in this so-called pet effect, 60 male and female undergraduates with either positive or neutral attitudes toward dogs interacted with a dog tactually, verbally, and visually while BP and heart rate were recorded automatically. 

Results revealed that (a) subjects “BP levels were lowest during dog petting, higher while talking to the dog, and highest while talking to the experimenter and (b) subjects” heart rates were lower while talking or touching the dog and higher while both touching and talking to the dog. Touch appeared to be major component of the pet effect, while cognitive factors contributed to a lesser degree. Implications for coping with hypertension are discussed, and suggestions for futher research are stated.

Well, all this talk about the benefit of having a pet is sorta pseudo-make-you-feel-good-science “proven” just by looking at people who owned dogs vs. those who have not. However, there seems to be a scientific correlation between having a good relationship with a pet and oxytocin, the chemical released when you “feel good”:

They recruited 55 dog owners and their pets for a laboratory play session. Owners provided a urine sample to measure oxytocin levels, and then played with their dog for half an hour. Another urine test followed.

As a control on another occasion, some owners sat in a room with their dog and were told to completely avoid the gaze of their pets.

Kikusui’s team videotaped the sessions and measured how long a dog spent eyeing its owner. Based on the analysis, the researchers split the pairs that were allowed to play into two groups: “long gaze”, who locked eyes for an average of 2.5 minutes during the play session, and “short gaze”, who made eye contact for fewer than 45 seconds, on average.

They found that these groupings reflected changes in owner’s oxytocin levels. In participants that spent a long time making eye contact, oxytocin levels rose by more than 20% during the play session, on average. In the control group, owners that avoided their pooches’ gaze saw their oxytocin levels drop slightly.

Stop spending hundreds of dollars in yoga classes and adopt a pet instead.

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