Ben Rine

And actually, if you think about remember when COVID started to subside and we started going back to work and all that.

I don't know about you, but for me, when I went from sitting at home all the time to interacting with my coworkers and my friends, I just it didn't really feel right.

I felt like there was something off, like I felt kind of awkward or it just didn't really feel the same.

I don't know if you experienced that, Mike, but I feel that I've heard other people say that, too.

And I think that's a pretty good example of we've all lived through this.

We've all experienced that, you know, that rust, I suppose.

But look at us now.

We've shaken off that rust, right?

You get back out there, you experience socializing and you get through it.

But I think when people really get into that rut, it doesn't feel like socializing is the way out because socializing doesn't feel as good as it usually does.

Yeah, well, quite shocking.

Our brains treat animals or treat dogs specifically, probably other animals too, but more so dogs, with this kind of love.

I mean, our brains react to dogs in much the same way that our brains react to other people and even our children.

The takeaway from the dog part of this is...

Having a dog is genuinely good for you.

There's actually studies showing that basically people with dogs are healthier.

They're a lower risk of heart disease, things like that.

And I actually think that that can be applied to help our loneliness issue, particularly in older age, because as people get older, they tend to spend much more time alone.

So I think maybe having a dog is a very valuable piece there.

But then when it comes to looking at the animal interactions between them, I think it's actually it's quite astounding to realize that the kindness and love and generosity that that humans often show each other and celebrate each other for demonstrating is not only a human.