Dog Parents Have Better Relationships With Their Neighbors, New Study Finds

Pet parents everywhere know that dogs enrich our lives in countless ways. From emotional benefits like boosting our moods to physical ones like lowering blood pressure, dogs are just good for us. A new study reveals another heartwarming benefit to having a dog — they help us connect with our neighbors. 

Psychologists at Rikkyo University and Azabu University in Japan surveyed 377 adults in the suburbs of Tokyo; participants were recruited through posters, community events, and dog parents’ groups. Led by Dr. Itaru Ishiguro, who studies social ties and human-animal interaction, the researchers compared people with dogs and people without dogs on three different types of neighborly interactions: brief, spontaneous chats; close neighborhood relationships; and anchored relationships.

They explain that “anchored relationships” are connections that are deeply embedded in a specific social context within a shared time, place, or activity. These are the relationships you form when you visit the same coffee shop every day or greet the same people in the park. The researchers hypothesized that people with dogs would have more anchored relationships, because dogs require routine walks that bring people to the same place over and over again.

“When walking their dogs, many dog owners follow a specific route and spend some period of time in a park, dog run, or other dog-friendly places,” Dr. Ishiguro wrote. “This increases the likelihood of encountering others who also visit these places. Regular visits to the same locations tend to lead to repeated contact, and people begin to recognize each other. Furthermore, the presence of dogs in these spaces fosters interactions among individuals with no pre-existing relationships, including interactions among strangers, due to a shared social context.” The chance of connecting is even higher when both people are walking dogs.

Researchers asked participants to complete a questionnaire about whether they owned pets, their sense of community, and specific questions about the three relationship types (brief chats, close friendships, and anchored personal relationships). 

They found that people with dogs are more likely to have anchored personal relationships and more likely to experience brief, incidental chats. They also discovered that anchored personal relationships lead people to feel an increased sense of community within their neighborhood. “Compared to incidental interactions or friendships, anchored personal relationships fostered by dog ownership are more likely to be perceived as ties with neighbors,” Dr. Ishiguro wrote — and they’re more likely to lead to feelings of trust than brief interactions.

It should be noted, though, that dogs didn’t tip the scales for deeper friendship in the neighborhood; people in anchored relationships don’t go as far as exchanging numbers of visiting each other’s homes. Additionally, the researchers acknowledge that the scope of the study was limited to a specific area of Japan and doesn’t necessarily reflect the wider population. And since the study took the form of a survey, people who already had existing strong relationships with their community might have been more motivated to participate.

But even with those limitations, the researchers concluded that anchored personal relationships are a big factor in developing community, and dogs are very strongly correlated with that style of relationship. It makes sense — dogs are great ice-breakers. They sniff and greet people on their own and they invite conversation from strangers. Repeat those interactions enough, and you develop those coveted anchored personal relationships — and a greater feeling of belonging.