Every child at some point begs their parents for a puppy. As a parent, we can’t help but think of all of the added chores and financial obligations that come with owning a pet. But did you know it can actually benefit the health and development of your kids?
Studies in pediatric health have concluded that children who lived with pets (but especially dogs) during their first year of life actually had a better immune system than those who did not. They believe that exposure to dogs may have positively boosted the maturation of their immune system during infancy. In addition, when they did fall ill, they needed a shorter course of antibiotics compared to the children who did not live with pets.
Here below is a set of lovely photos from Steve Given that shows portraits of children with their pet dogs in the past.
