Who hasn’t felt their anxiety fade when rhythmically stroking a dog? (And your pet will probably enjoy the attention too.) While friends and family mean well, human relationships can bring stress. Owning a well-behaved dog, however, provides a real opportunity to relax – whether that is patting, stroking or going for a long walk together.

Now that so many of us connect with our friends online, we risk losing the simple art of conversation. Not so for dog walkers: dogs are brilliant conversation starters and many first-time dog owners are genuinely amazed by how many new people they meet.

Caring for a pet helps children develop empathy and having a dog in the home also reduces children’s risk of developing respiratory and ear infections, gastroenteritis and some allergies.

Owning a dog can be a real game-changer for activity levels – particularly among elderly people whose exercise opportunities reduce with age. More exercise leads to fewer health problems: an extensive UK study in 1991 showed that new pet owners, when compared with people without pets, increased their exercise and had fewer minor health problems.

Animal-based therapy is becoming popular in residential care homes because stroking a pet has been shown to decrease agitated behaviours and increase social interaction in patients with dementia. Touch is one of the last senses to be affected by the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, so stroking a pet can bring enormous pleasure.

A study in 2002 showed that people with a dog or a cat had lower resting heart rates and blood pressure measures at the beginning of an experiment than those without a pet. Both groups were then asked to perform a stressful task – when it finished, the pet owners’ heart rate and blood pressure returned to normal more quickly.