The bond between dogs and their owners is unique, even when compared to human friendships or the relationships between humans and other pets. Dogs express an interest in human well-being that other animals do not, partly because of many years of domestication. It’s only right then that owners return the favor, and one of the best ways to help your pet stay healthy is to make sure it takes regular baths to fight disease.
Hygiene Breeds Camaraderie
Dogs don’t need to bathe as regularly as humans. In fact, the reason bathing is so important to human hygiene is because humans vent the heat inside their body through the pores in their skin, and the water that carries this heat away is what we know as sweat. But just because dogs don’t need to bathe for the same reasons, doesn’t mean they don’t need to bath occasionally and for other reasons entirely.
In fact, bathing was one of the first steps towards the domestication of dogs. When a dog’s fur becomes riddled with nature deterrents like briars, or their skin becomes dry or subject to a condition, water can help to clean and improve the dog’s condition. Both humans and dogs are highly social animals, so it’s possible early humans used this to show their value to dogs, who in turn recognized the health and social benefits of these interactions.
Dogs Return The Favor
In return, over the many years of companionship dogs have actually developed a preternatural talent for sensing illness and trouble in human lives as well. In fact, some studies show that dogs are
and other serious illnesses before humans do. They’re also good at sensing spoiled or rotten food. Owners who shared cooked chicken with their dogs (a healthy food for both!) found that dogs consistently ignored bacteria riddled pieces.
Man’s Best Friend
You may or may not believe dogs are the best pets, but the way they bond with humans at least is unique amidst the animal kingdom. Each can help and heal the other, and see diseases the other cannot. Both have at one time acted as hunters, providing food to the other in need. And now, scrubbing Fido’s fur might get a grumpy whine from man’s best friend, but at the end of the day your dog knows that what you’re doing, you do with their health and sake in mind.