Did you know that dogs reduce stress and anxiety in humans?

According to Psychology.com , Temma Ehrenfeld wrote, Your relationship with a dog can be more soothing than any other. One research team compared how people responded to a stress test — doing arithmetic and putting their hands into ice-water for two minutes — either in the presence of a friend, their own pet, or a spouse. In the presence of their pets, pet owners showed significantly lower heart rate and blood pressure before the task, less reaction to the task, and a faster recovery than the non-pet-owning participants who had a friend present. In fact, the pet tamed their stress more than a spouse.

In a separate study, researchers found that people with high blood pressure showed less reaction to a stress task after they had a new pet for six months, with better scores than a control group on the same medication who didn’t have pets.

To bring a smile to your day, I am sharing pictures of my puppy Louis!

Animal Friends of the Valley is always looking Forster families,  volunteers to help walk their dogs, clean cages, do laundry, assist in their reduced cost clinic, attend community events with the animals, visit retirement homes with your animal, and look after the cats and small animals at your local PetCo! 

They even have a small boutique animal supply store inside their shelters that not only supports local vendors, but all proceeds go to the care of their animals! 

For more information about the no kill shelter, Animal Friends of the Valley click the link below!