“Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.”
― Roger Caras, writer and former President of the ASPCA (1928 – 2001)
A new Japanese study of 377 adults suggests that owning a dog quietly strengthens how connected people feel to their neighborhood.
Residents in a suburb west of Tokyo who lived with dogs reported a richer sense of belonging than neighbors without pets.
The work was led by social psychologist Itaru Ishiguro, Ph.D., at Rikkyo University near Tokyo. His research focuses on everyday social ties and human-animal interaction, and he collaborated with colleagues at Azabu University in Sagamihara.
In the new study, the team compared dog owners and non-owners on three distinct kinds of neighborly contact.
They looked at brief chats with strangers, close neighborhood friendships, and anchored personal relationships, recurring ties rooted in specific shared places and activities.
The main question was whether people with dogs built more of these local ties and, through them, a stronger sense of community.
In practice, anchored personal relationships might be the familiar faces you greet in the park or at the corner shop every afternoon.
These ties feel friendly and predictable, yet people usually do not swap phone numbers or invite one another into their homes.
The study argues that this middle layer of connection sits between quick incidental encounters and deep friendships in terms of intimacy and continuity.
Because these acquaintances almost always live nearby and share the same streets, the authors expected them to matter most for neighborhood belonging.
When the team separated dog owners from people who kept cats or other animals, dog ownership alone showed a link with neighborhood relationships.
One likely reason is simply that dogs need daily walks in shared spaces, while many other pets stay almost entirely indoors.
In the survey data, ownership of cats and other pets did not relate to any relationship type or to sense of community.
That pattern suggests it is the shared walking routine, not pet ownership in general, that connects dog owners strongly to neighborhood social life.
Researchers recruited several hundred adults living in Sagamihara City and nearby areas through posters, flyers, community events, and local government channels.
Participants completed an online or paper questionnaire about pet ownership, social contact around their homes, and how attached they felt to their area.
The sense of community questions drew on a standard place attachment scale that measures how strongly people feel rooted in specific locations.
To untangle links between variables, the analysts used generalized structural equation modeling, a statistical technique that handles chains of cause and association.
Dog owners were more likely than non-owners to report having people they regularly recognized in spots and frequent incidental conversations with passersby.
However, once factors like age, income, education, gender, and housing were taken into account, owning a dog did not predict having neighborhood friends.
All relationship types related to a stronger sense of community, yet only anchored personal relationships linked dog ownership directly to feeling locally rooted.
“Anchored personal relationships should be considered alongside incidental interactions and friendships,” wrote Ishiguro.
Earlier work in Australian cities found that pet owners scored higher than non-owners on neighborhood social capital, trust, and civic engagement.
Those studies also noted that dogs, more than other pets, seemed especially effective at sparking conversations during walks and visits to public spaces.
The Japanese survey adds nuance by showing that chats and friendships are part of the picture, with anchored personal relationships carrying weight.
Taken together, this growing body of work hints that the social benefits of living with animals extend well beyond companionship inside the home.
Because the survey was cross-sectional rather than experimental, the authors cannot rule out the possibility that outgoing people choose to own dogs.
Personality traits such as extraversion, a tendency to seek stimulation, can predict both the size of someone’s network and their interest in pets.
Japan has relatively low relational mobility, a cultural pattern where new relationships are relatively hard to start.
In that context, it is not surprising that dog ownership did not translate into more close neighborhood friends, even when casual contact increased.
Many studies have explored whether living with pets improves health, with varied results but hints that dogs may support physical and mental wellbeing.
A Swedish cohort that followed more than three million adults found lower overall mortality among dog owners than among people without dogs.
This community-focused work does not claim that dogs extend life, yet it suggests one social pathway through which health effects might emerge.
Feeling more rooted in a neighborhood might support mental health, reduce loneliness, and make it easier to seek help during stressful times.
For people who already live with dogs, the findings highlight the quiet value of regular routes, familiar faces, and friendly short conversations.
Stopping briefly to chat while following local rules about leashes and cleanup may be enough to build anchored personal relationships over time.
Neighbors who do not own dogs can benefit by greeting walkers, since the study suggests those small interactions contribute meaningfully to community feeling.
Put simply, the research suggests that every small, repeated meeting around a dog walk can add up to a welcoming neighborhood for everyone.
The study, Dog ownership enhances anchored personal relationships and sense of community: A comparison with incidental interactions and friendships is published in PLOS One.
Source: Earth.com
Tagged cats, connectedness, Dog, dogs, mental-health, neighbourhoods, neighbours, pets, relational mobility, relationships, wellbeing
It’s been a big week at The Balanced Dog. I have just finished my last Saturday of consults for 2025 and, earlier this week, Sox turned 8 (his birthday party was a two weeks ago, to accommodate the travel plans of friends).
And there are only 20 days left to make a submission on the Racing Industry (Closure of Greyhound Racing Industry) Amendment Bill. A year ago, the NZ Government made an announcement of its intention to ban greyhound racing in this country; the bill has passed its first reading with wide cross-party support. It’s now time for the public to have their say…
Probably thanks to Sox’s birthday, and the number of greyhounds I work with in my practice, greyhounds, racing and animal welfare have been on my mind a lot recently. I am definitely making a submission.
Here are the points/issues I want to raise:
I encourage anyone with an interest in the greyhound breed to submit. That’s what public submissions are for. There are many templates circulating to assist you in making a submission. I believe the most powerful submissions are those that share personal experience.
Be sure to read the legislation so you can align your comments with specific clauses and be sure to tell the Select Committee if you want to be heard (that is, appear in person or by video link).
Kathleen Crisley is Fear-Free certified dog massage therapist and canine fitness trainer. She has a particular passion for working with dogs and their families to ensure injury prevention and quality of life. She specialises in working with anxious and emotionally damaged dogs. Her mobile practice, The Balanced Dog, is based in Christchurch, New Zealand
Posted in animal welfare, Dogs
Tagged animals, Dog, dogs, greyhound racing, greyhound racing ban, GRNZ, New Zealand greyhound racing, submissions, writing
Dogs have been part of human societies across Eurasia for at least 20,000 years, accompanying us through many social and cultural upheavals. A new study by an international team, published in the journal Science, and led by Laurent Frantz, paleogeneticist at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU) and Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) shows that the spread of new cultures across Eurasia, with different lifeways, was often associated with the spread of specific dog populations.
Scientists from LMU, QMUL, the Kunming Institute of Zoology and Lanzhou University in China, and the University of Oxford, sequenced and analyzed the genomes of 17 ancient dogs from Siberia, East Asia, and the Central Asian Steppe – including, for the first time, specimens from China. Important cultural changes occurred in these regions over the past 10,000 years, driven by the dispersal of hunter-gatherers, farmers, and pastoralists. The specimens came from archaeological sites between 9,700 and 870 years old. In addition, the researchers included publicly available genomes from 57 ancient and 160 modern dogs in their analyses.
A comparison of ancient dog and human genomes reveals a striking concordance between genetic shifts in both species across time and space, most notably during periods of population turnover. This link is especially evident during China’s transformative Early Bronze Age (~4,000 years ago), which saw the introduction of metalworking. The research shows that the expansion of people from the Eurasian Steppe, who first introduced this transformative technology to Western China, also brought their dogs with them.
This pattern of human-dog co-movement extends back far beyond the Bronze Age. The research traces signals of co-disperal back at least 11,000 years, when hunter-gatherers in northern Eurasia were exchanging dogs closely related to today’s Siberian Huskies.
“Traces of these major cultural shifts can be teased out of the genomes of ancient dogs,” says Dr. Lachie Scarsbrook (LMU/Oxford), one of the lead authors of the study. “Our results highlight the deeply rooted cultural importance of dogs. Instead of just adopting local populations, people have maintained a distinct sense of ownership towards their own dogs for at least the past 11,000 years.”
“This tight link between human and dog genetics shows that dogs were an integral part of society, whether you were a hunter-gatherer in the Arctic Circle 10,000 years ago or a metalworker in an early Chinese city,” says Prof. Laurent Frantz. “It’s an amazing, enduring partnership and shows the sheer flexibility of the role dogs can play in our societies, far more than with any other domestic species.”
Tagged ancient dogs, Eurasia, evolution, genome, genomics, history, human-animal bond, paleogenomics, science
Kathleen Crisley is Fear-Free certified dog massage therapist and canine fitness trainer. She has a particular passion for working with dogs and their families to ensure injury prevention and quality of life. She specialises in working with anxious and emotionally damaged dogs. Her mobile practice, The Balanced Dog, is based in Christchurch, New Zealand
In Christchurch, where I live and practice, we’re known for our flat landscape in most parts of the city and suburbs. However, we do have some hilly suburbs which are considered prime real estate for those wanting a view and a different level of privacy.
With those hilly sections come challenges.
Homes in these areas tend to require stairs or steep drives and a walk in the neighbourhood demands hill-walking; much different to the single story traditional housing on the flats. That said, new infill developments are building upwards. Usually, these take the form of multi-unit dwellings that are two or three stories high. All have staircases, most are steep to make the most of the available space.
As a mobile practitioner, I work with dogs in a range of settings. One fact that is universal, however, is that an aging dog is more likely to slip on floors and to have difficulty walking up/down stairs and hills. A dog of any age that has an injury is also going to have the same problems.
Owners of smaller breeds can carry them; for larger breeds, this is not an option.
So, if you are relocating to a new home, please think of your dog before signing on the dotted line. Your dog will age must faster than you do. A bit of planning can help you make a good choice so your dog can enjoy your home and neighbourhood for the rest of their life.
P.S. Not every family has the capacity to build a stair lift like Eddie’s family did. (RIP, Eddie)
Kathleen Crisley is Fear-Free certified dog massage therapist and canine fitness trainer. She has a particular passion for working with dogs and their families to ensure injury prevention and quality of life. She specialises in working with anxious and emotionally damaged dogs. Her mobile practice, The Balanced Dog, is based in Christchurch, New Zealand
Tagged aging dogs, Dog, dogs, hills, homes, older dogs, pets, senior dogs, stairlifts, stairs
Last month, the world lost a leader in animal welfare – Jane Goodall. Although she lived to a good age of 91 years, contributing to dialogue about important issues right to the end, it still seems like she was taken too soon. RIP, Jane.
Kathleen Crisley is Fear-Free certified dog massage therapist and canine fitness trainer. She has a particular passion for working with dogs and their families to ensure injury prevention and quality of life. She specialises in working with anxious and emotionally damaged dogs. Her mobile practice, The Balanced Dog, is based in Christchurch, New Zealand
A new study reveals that training service dogs can slow biological aging in female veterans. Researchers from Florida Atlantic University, in partnership with other institutions, focused on women with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)—a group often overlooked in military research. Instead of receiving a service dog, these participants volunteered to train dogs for fellow veterans, offering support to others as well as themselves.
To measure biological stress, the team looked at telomere length (a marker of cellular aging) using saliva samples, and heart rate variability (HRV), a sign of nervous system balance. Over eight weeks, female veterans were randomly assigned to either an active service dog training group or a comparison group that watched dog training videos. Both groups participated in weekly one-hour sessions, and researchers measured outcomes before, during, and after the intervention.
Saliva samples were used to determine telomere length, while heart rate variability provided additional insight into physiological stress. Results showed that those who trained service dogs had an increase in telomere length, indicating slower cellular aging, while the control group experienced telomere shortening and accelerated aging. The benefits of telomere preservation were most significant among women with a history of combat exposure; this subgroup saw the largest gains in telomere length, whereas combat-exposed control participants had the most pronounced declines.
Heart rate variability findings further backed the biological stress benefits, with those in active training demonstrating improved nervous system regulation. Psychological measures were also gathered using standardized questionnaires to assess PTSD symptoms, anxiety, and perceived stress. Both groups reported reductions in these symptoms throughout the study, suggesting that structured activity alone provides some mental health support. However, improvements in psychological outcomes did not differ significantly by intervention or combat experience.
The study, published in Behavioral Sciences, suggests that the skills learned during service dog training—such as positive reinforcement and reading animal behavior—may have strengthened participants’ bonds with their own pets at home, offering additional emotional support. Unlike general volunteering, service dog training uniquely blends emotional healing with building a close relationship between veterans and their animals, providing therapeutic benefits that go beyond typical community engagement.
Source: Biocompare.com
A year-long metabolomic study led by Dr. Heather Huson, associate professor of animal sciences at Cornell University, found that feeding dogs fresh, human-grade food can impact metabolic health and support healthier aging. The research, conducted with board-certified veterinary nutritionists employed by The Farmer’s Dog, analyzed the effects of fresh, minimally processed recipes versus kibble in 22 senior Alaskan sled dogs.
Results showed dogs fed The Farmer’s Dog fresh food experienced a rapid and sustained metabolic shift after just one month, marked by lower levels of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) – harmful compounds linked to aging and chronic disease. These dogs also showed reduced sucrose and 1,5-anhydroglucitol (a glycemic control biomarker), and notably lower concentrations of specific AGEs such as N6-carboxymethyllysine and pyrraline.
“For years, people have been telling us their dogs are thriving on fresh diets like The Farmer’s Dog, and this study finally shows what’s happening beneath the surface — a significant metabolic transformation,” said Jonathan Regev, co-founder and CEO of The Farmer’s Dog. “The gap between highly processed pet foods and minimally processed real food may be even wider than we imagined, and could redefine what’s possible for canine health and longevity.”
Additional findings include higher levels of ergothioneine, a potent antioxidant compound, as well as elevated levels of carnosine and anserine (histidine-related metabolites with antioxidant properties). These shifts suggest increased antioxidant capacity and reduced oxidative stress.
Dogs demonstrated elevated branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) metabolism, with increased levels of leucine, isoleucine, and valine and their derivatives. They also showed higher levels of glycerol and glycerol-3-phosphate (markers of lipolysis), alongside increased long-chain omega-3 fatty acids — including alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), eicosapentaenoate (EPA), docosapentaenoate (DPA), and docosahexaenoate (DHA). Serum 3-hydroxybutyrate (BHBA), a ketone body, rose reflecting enhanced fat utilization and healthy ketosis.
Malonate, a marker of fatty acid synthesis, was decreased in the fresh food group, suggesting a more efficient metabolic profile compared to the kibble-fed group.
“The magnitude and consistency of the metabolic impacts we observed were quick, sustained and striking,” said Dr. Joseph Wakshlag, DVM, PhD, DACVSMR, DACVIM (Nutrition), one of the board-certified veterinary nutritionists who was involved in the study.
“Fresh, minimally processed food shifted the dogs’ metabolism toward a beneficial alternative metabolic profile in the aging dog with markers for improved muscle and neurological health along with implications for improved antioxidant defense, and diminished AGE formation,” added Dr. Wakshlag. “These results are an exciting milestone for understanding canine metabolic health and nutrition.”
The study was conducted under ethical approval from the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine and published in Metabolites.
Source: Petfoodindustry.com
Posted in dog nutrition and labelling, Dogs, research
Tagged Cornell University, diet, food, fresh diet, health, kibble food, metabolism, nutrition, raw diet, senior dogs, The Farmer's Dog, wellness
It’s been a week since the results of most of the local body elections in New Zealand were announced.
It’s no secret that voter turnouts for these elections are declining with many voters not bothering to cast a vote. I’m in the privileged position of traveling around the Christchurch City, Waimakariri and Selwyn districts and learning from my clients about the issues they face, asking them who were the candidates in their area…Some said outright they wouldn’t bother to vote. Others were more interested in certain issues but with no ringing endorsements of any single candidate.
I share their disenchantment for councils at both the district and regional levels. The jargon, the lack of progress in many areas, and consultations that seems stacked against the average submitter abound.
This election season, my greyhound Sox launched his own informal campaign for mayor (because of his species he was not allowed to enroll as a candidate for the ballot). Each of Sox’s post were written as a conversation between us and taking his simple and child-like understanding of issues to shine a spotlight on issues that are important to us and the dogs that live amongst us.
Some were tongue in cheek, others a bit more serious. But at least we did our part to raise awareness and to encourage people to vote.
This is a compilation of Sox’s many campaign announcements.
Kathleen Crisley is Fear-Free certified dog massage therapist and canine fitness trainer. She has a particular passion for working with dogs and their families to ensure injury prevention and quality of life. She specialises in working with anxious and emotionally damaged dogs. Her mobile practice, The Balanced Dog, is based in Christchurch, New Zealand
Posted in Dogs
Tagged city councils, district councils, mayor, regional councils, what matters
DoggyMom.com 