DID YOU KNOW THAT?

* Some pet owners use nose prints to identify their dogs in the same way they use footprints to identify newborn babies.

* Sixty-two percent of pet owners sign their pets' names to cards and letters.

* Americans spend more than $20 billion on their pets, which is more than they spend on movies and home videos combined.

A PET A DAY

Your pet loves you, keeps you company, and reduces your blood pressure: That's the doggone truth. In fact, scientific research indicates that pets boost their owners' physical, mental, and emotional well-being.

For example, a study at the University of California at Los Angeles reports that dog owners visit doctors less often that those who don't own a dog. Apparently, people with pooches enjoy physical activity (such as playing with and walking the dog), which improves their overall health.

In addition, researchers have discovered that pets make great therapists, because pet owners talk truthfully to their animals, unloading their problems without fear of being judged.

Finally, scientists explain that the profound emotional benefits we develop when we care for others are likewise cultivated when we care for our pets; namely, we achieve high levels of self-esteem, optimism, poise, and dependability.

THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP

Our sages understood that caring for animals affects one’s personality. For example, the midrash teaches that David’s life as a shepherd prepared him to be king. “One who knows how to look after sheep, giving each the care it needs,” God declared, “will come and take care of My people” (Shemot Rabbah 2:2). But caring for animals also might have positively affected David’s relationships with others. Pets give unconditional love and loyalty—and David’s celebrated friendship with Jonathan exemplified the same. Despite their vastly different backgrounds, Saul’s disapproval, and the threat of imminent death, Jonathan and David remained the closest of friends. It is no wonder that Pirkei Avot describes their friendship as ahavah she’einah tluyah vidavar, love which is not dependent on a cause.