
Dog ownership is associated with better cardiovascular health - EndXA
https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/your-hearts-best-friend-dog-ownership-associated-with-better-cardiovascular-health/
======
deepsun
They mean healthy people are more likely to afford a dog?

~~~
carbocation
Unlike many questions where we ponder Judea Pearl’s do-operator, there is
nothing unethical about a trial randomizing people to dogs. (Assuming the
people have been vetted.)

~~~
im3w1l
Idk who would participate in that study. Either people want a dog and get one
or they don't want and don't get one. Don't think people would like a diceroll
making the decision for them.

------
erlend_sh
I’m in Norway. Why might I be getting this?

403 ERROR

The request could not be satisfied.

The Amazon CloudFront distribution is configured to block access from your
country. Generated by cloudfront (CloudFront) Request ID: R5ceqb7qFoAbhKdP-
eAEEejoiSgNktxrmNDYJV2a_N2JmAq17MZjkg==

~~~
vinni2
Same here

------
limaoscarjuliet
So people with good cardiovascular health are buying pet dogs?

------
0xcde4c3db
As far as I can tell this study didn't look at any association with
cardiovascular health outcomes, but rather with a "CVH score" that
incorporates various risk factors. Unless I'm missing something, the bottom
line seems to be that non-dog-owners have a CVH score of 9, while dog owners
have a CVH score of 10 (despite being the group most likely to smoke). I have
no idea how that translates into a difference in probability/rate/severity of
cardiovascular events.

------
askafriend
Because you literally have to take dogs out for a walk every day...

Is this supposed to be a surprise?

~~~
paulcole
Spoken like someone from the city or the suburbs.

In the sticks where I grew up, dogs run loose in fenced in yards or do
whatever they want when there’s not a fence. Everybody had a dog and _nobody_
“walked” them.

~~~
im3w1l
I literally never heard about this and I am pretty curious. How does a dog
behave if you don't have a fence and let them roam?

~~~
LeifCarrotson
Like...a dog? Curious what other behaviors you think they might exhibit. They
hang around the house, or you if you're outside, and nap on the porch. If
you're worried they'll run off, they may chase after an animal that mistakenly
ventures in, but otherwise they stay in their territory with their people, and
walk around the property doing dog things.

Also note that in these contexts there are "inside dogs" and "outside dogs"
depending on if they get let into the house or not.

~~~
jaclaz
>Also note that in these contexts there are "inside dogs" and "outside dogs"
depending on if they get let into the house or not.

Yes, I had for years an "outside" dog and an "inside" one, the funny thing is
how they divided their competence for "alarm", the outside one would bark if
anyone arrived within earing distance, then would stop barking when the car or
truck actually arrived, and immediately the inside one will take where the
former left.

Still there was a small area on the side of the house that was "free", the
outside dog somehow believed it was not (anymore) his business, and the inside
one thought it wasn't (yet) his.

------
numakerg
>rescue or purchase a pet as a potential strategy to improve their
cardiovascular health as long as pet ownership led them to a more physically
active lifestyle

I wonder if they tried to correlate this with the dog breed. I don't see it
mentioned in TFA.

------
stjohnswarts
Reports like this are useless without stats on how big of a difference it
made.

------
hairytrog
I wonder if dog ownership also correlates with lower reproduction rates.

~~~
jonsen
Yes, some owners have their dog sterilized.

~~~
hairytrog
I mean the owner.

