Eco Lassie hasn’t talked about your pets for a while, so she thought she’d offer some facts you might not know regarding those fuzzy warm things you keep close to you.

Here are a few things to consider:

For instance, did you know that research has shown that pet owners are healthier than non-pet owners?

The NIH has been studying the effects of pet ownership and in particular, one study followed dog owners who’d suffered heart attacks. Regardless of the severity of their heart attack, those who owned dogs were significantly more likely to be living a year later.

Another study of married couples owning dogs showed that those with pets of any kind had lower blood pressure, lower heart rates, and recovered faster from stressful situations. Maybe having that little kitty to feed or dog to walk was the added impetus?

And it’s also been well documented that dog owners tend to get more exercise than their sedentary neighbors who don’t won a pooch.

And don’t discount the usefulness of dogs to help scientists find cures for cancer. Dogs have strong genetic similarities to humans, and also get naturally occurring cancers. Dogs respond to chemotherapy much as humans do, too. Since the canine genome has been sequenced, scientists can study which gene mutations are linked to specific cancers.

So don’t be surprised if down the road your friendly vet asks if you would be willing to have your dog’s genetic information analyzed. By participating in these efforts to develop treatment plans which are effective, those approaches can readily be moved into human trials.

Leading to why dogs are often called “man’s best friend.”