The Healing Power of Pets: Harnessing the Amazing Ability of Pets to Make and Keep People Happy and Healthy

The Healing Power of Pets explores these phenomena in greater detail, combining revolutionary scientific discoveries with deeply moving, personal stories of the unique bond between pets and their owners. The stories are of people who have learned how to triumph over chronic pain, paralyzing phobias, sedentary lifestyles, and life-threatening conditions -- showing us that the best medicine might be that furry tail-wagging pet at your side.

On page 74, for example, he refers to a 1995 study conducted by Erka Friedmann, a professor at the Department of Health and Nutritional Studies at Brooklyn College. She recruited 392 patients who had suffered heart attacks and were part of the Cardiac Arrhythmia Suppression Trial. Of these, 87 owned dogs and 282 did not. A year later, only one of the dog owners had died, while 19 of the non-dog-owners had passed away. In other words, people who own a dog are far more likely to be alive a year after having a heart attack.

Why is this? Many reasons are given in the book: dog owners get more exercise, they take better care of themselves because they feel responsible for the dog, they relax while petting the dog, they are less lonely because of the dog, etc. Other studies have shown that the act of stroking an animal's fur lowers the human's blood pressure like a form of meditation.

As a Jewish educator reading this book, I could not help but reflect on the fact that, compared to the general population, far fewer Jews have pets. In the Orthodox and Hasidic communities, especially, it is rare to see a dog in the house. One reason is because dogs were used to track and kill people during the Holocaust and other persecutions, so they have bad associations for many Jews. I understand this. Still, I found myself wondering how many of those 282 non-dog-owners in the Brooklyn College study were Jewish. (Brooklyn has a high percentage of Jews.) Are we allowing Old World fears about dogs to deprive us of a valuable form of therapy?

The pet doesn't have to be a dog, however. Cats (of which I have ten!) are equally therapeutic. So are other species, such as birds, rabbits, guinea pigs, etc. Even watching a tank full of fish can help a person to relax. The important thing is the Bond between the animal(s) and the human(s). Reading this book confirmed in a scientific way what I have always believed in my heart: this special Bond is a healing gift that God designed into the very fabric of creation.


This one is for Max   January 27, 2002
Harriet Klausner
23 out of 24 found this review helpful

Though outside my normal lane of fiction, this reviewer read this book because of my love for dogs and cats. My spouse has remarked that my significant other was my beloved dog Max who has to be in heaven still emitting beams of healing to me. Along with Danelle Morton, Dr. Marty Becker of TV fame and author of some of the Chicken Soup books provides an insightful look at healing miracles involving pets. Medical research has begun to correlate the healthy relationship between a dog or a cat and a human especially a person in need of healing.

THE HEALING POWER OF PETS describes how animals cure or prevent illnesses and encourage couch potatoes to get off their butt and join them in activities. The authors also provide true-life stories of pets enhancing the lives of their owners often in miraculous ways that science does not understand in spite of gathering high statistical relationships between health and owners. This well-written book is clearly for pet lovers who know inside their hearts the meaning of "harnessing the amazing ability of pets to make and keep people healthy ".

Harriet Klausner


Why we need to read Dr. Becker's book, now...   February 14, 2002
Dr. Edward T.Creagan (Rochester, MN USA)
18 out of 18 found this review helpful

We are slowly killing ourselves. We drive too fast, eat too much, are sleep-deprived and are fried, frazzled and hassled. E multi-task til we drop. More of us commit suicide with a fork than with a gun. Laptops, desk tops, PDA's entomb us in an icy digital dungeon.

So what does this have to do with pets? Dr. Becker and Danelle Morton have crafted a brilliant story. We need the CAT scan and pills. But we also need the puppy and the kitten to heal our bodies, mend our minds and soothe our troubled souls. And make us smile again.

With rock-solid data from psychologists, immunologists and epidemiologists the authors take us by the hand and show the healing power of animals. The style is soft, comfortable and enticing. You cannot put this book away. The Bond between people, patiends and pets is real, assessble and can no longer be ignored.

But have a hankie handy. A guarantee: no one finishes the book with a dry eye. But we feel good about the tears. Like the kind we shed with a good laugh.

So, if we want to go the distance, live long enough to cash in the 403-b, read this book. It will change your life and you can bet on it.


Healing body, mind and spirit   February 13, 2002
Janice Willard (Moscow, ID USA)
16 out of 16 found this review helpful

In the Healing Power of Pets, Dr. Marty Becker and Danelle Morton remind us that good health, like living a good life, is not simply an issue of absence of disease. Good health is achieved by a balance between factors influencing body, mind and spirit. In this book, the authors explore how animals aid humans in all of these categories. Animals help the body by encouraging exercise and stimulating nerves. They help the mind by providing structure in the daily activities, giving a person someone outside themselves to think and care for, facilitating social contacts and breaking through barriers of isolation. They benefit the spirit by assisting people to achieve a meditation- like relaxation and experience living in the moment.

While this book will be a delight to most pet owners, I believe that its utility goes beyond that. Health care providers, mental health councilors and educational specialists will all find food for thought in this well researched book. One of the first things that I do when reading a non-fiction book is to flip to the back and see what information is referenced. This book has an extensive bibliography and considerable scientific material is cited. However, it is a credit to Dr. Becker's writing style that the narrative flows seamlessly from personal stories to scientific research that illustrate the same point. As a result, the information is conveyed in a way that is engaging as well as being educational.

While we derive many benefits from our association with animals, we must remember that the Human Animal Bond needs to always be a two way street of mutual benefits. Too often we fall short of our responsibilities to them, as the high numbers of animals abandoned at shelters attests. All too often, reality doesn't live up to our expectation and it is the animals who suffer because of this. So I was quite pleased that Dr. Becker included information designed to improve the human side of the Human Animal Bond, from discussing how to select the best pet for your needs to providing the needed mental and physical requirements for your pet to live a full and healthy life. In this way, Dr. Becker provides additional balance to this book.

Some of these stories will make you think. Some will make you cry. Some stories will inspire awe and wonder at the animals who have developed remarkable abilities to detect problems and assist humans. In most cases though, the animal helps humans, not because of what they do, but simply by being what they are. It is our challenge to take this gift and use it wisely.


Healing Power of Becker and Pets!   May 25, 2002
Joan Minor (Bartlesville, OK United States)
12 out of 12 found this review helpful

Dr. Marty Becker's "Healing Power of Pets" should be required reading at the high school level. Too many people use their pets as commodities. If they read this book, then maybe they'd realize what a treasure animals really are. When Becker talks of his pain and humiliation after a debilitating back injury, he finds solace in his barn. How? As he watches his wife do his chores, fear, shame and embarrassment overwhelm him. But that pain eases as he is nuzzled by his horse. The soothing velvet muzzle and warm breath on his neck radiate through his body. The truth dawns on Becker. There at home, he will be healed.

Becker recounts story after story of animals helping humans. The love and affection that they pour out on us is unequaled. They ease our loneliness, help cancer and heart patients, assist in recovery after earthquakes, floods and tornados. They even assist in counseling in disasters like Columbine. Dogs are used in reading programs in libraries. Fish soothe agitated, developmentally delayed people. A cat purring like a teakettle calms nervousness. The animal world offers, happiness, companionship, and most of all, responsibility. Not their's to us, but our stewardship of them.

Read this fine book and learn more about yourself. Learn what you owe your pet. And, vow to lend your assistance to end animal abuse of all kinds.