Dogs have always been man’s best friend. Just walk around on campus or in your neighborhood, and you will see many people walking their dogs outside. You can imagine why dogs hold a special place in people’s heart!

Dogs, however, can come with some baggage of taking care of them just like any pet. They can come with a lot of responsibilities, not to mention vet bills and grooming expenses. Some people wonder why people bother buying dogs when there are so many expenses involved.

However, despite the expenses, there are also a lot of benefits to owning a dog that can make the expenses seem almost worth it. Here are the eight benefits of owning a dog.

1. You always have someone waiting for you.

Every dog owner knows that dogs will always wait for you to come home whenever you are away. Even if you’re gone for only five minutes, as soon as you come home, dogs will be as excited to see you as though you had been gone for a year! It’s one of the best things about owning a dog since you always know that you have someone whose excited to see you come home!

2. You get more exercise.

If you are trying to exercise to achieve your ideal summer body, dogs can help you reach your goal. Dogs require exercise just like humans, so taking them out for a walk or a jog can help both you and your dog exercise. You can take them to parks or around the neighborhood — just make sure that you don’t tire them out too much.

And if you want to receive a lot of exercise and not risk tiring out your dog, it’s best to get a more active dog like a Boxer. Having a smaller dog that isn’t as active can make it harder to walk the dog or get a lot of exercise since they tire out more easily.

3. Dogs help you learn to take time to have fun.

Any dog owner knows that dogs tend to interrupt you while you’re working. Whenever I’m doing my homework, my dog, a Bichon Frise named Ace, will sometimes place his toy on my lap while I’m in the middle solving an equation.

This can be both a good and a bad thing. The bad part of it is that you are interrupted from completing your work. The good part of it is that it helps you take a break once in a while. It’s good to take a 10 or 15-minute break sometimes when studying or working on homework to avoid overworking yourself. Dogs, therefore, help remind you that sometimes in life, you must take time for yourself to have fun!

4. You receive emotional support.

Dogs are the best therapy aid whether you are dealing with anxiety, stress or grief. Dogs always give you love and affection, and they can sense when you are upset. My dog, for example, will always try to lick my tears away if I start crying. Having a dog is a perfect way to make any situation seem better!

5. You feel safer.

There are a lot of dogs that can serve as bodyguards for you at your house. If an intruder tries to break in, they can pick up the scent before the person even comes into the house, alert you and even scare away the intruder. They’re like a personal alarm system.

Not all dogs will scare away intruders though. Some dogs may just try to scare them away with their affection, so it really depends what type of dog that you get.

6. Some dogs can detect cancer.

There are several studies that have found that dogs can detect cancer in humans since dogs can identify the chemical traces that cancerous cells release. The results found that the dog used in the study, George, could detect melanoma approximately 99 percent of the time! That means that if you have cancer, your dog might be able to tell if you have cancer before you can. This can help with early detection of cancer, which is very beneficial in helping you increase the likelihood of beating cancer or even receiving treatment before the cancer spreads. Owning a dog, therefore, may help save your life!

7. They can help babysit.

Dogs are their own type of babysitter. They can keep your children entertained, which can help keep you from having to amuse them all the time! Not all dogs, however, enjoy being around younger children or may not be trained to be around younger children, so make sure that either you get a dog that is trained to deal with kids or you find a specific breed that enjoys being around children.

8. You always receive love and affection.

One of the biggest benefits of owning a dog is that you always receive attention from them! In fact, sometimes it’s a little too much attention! Dogs will, for the most part, always want to give you love and affection. According to Psychology Today, dogs possess the same hormone that is responsible for creating the emotion of love in humans. Dogs want to receive love and affection from others just like humans do! So, when you get a dog, you will have a harder time feeling lonely since you’ll always receive affection from your pet.

As you can see, there are so many benefits to adopting a dog! Dogs are always the type of companion that stays loyal to you no matter what. Having any type of pet can have its challenges, but when you’re willing to overcome the challenges and take on the responsibility of owning a pet, then you'll find that you are able to enjoy all the benefits.