Are dogs really the key to better health and a happier life? In this new study, dog owners were invited to describe the biggest benefits and challenges of dog ownership. The commitments and responsibilities of having a dog were found to be both a joy and a burden, highlighting the importance of making a conscious adoption choice.
The pet dog population has been growing worldwide. Often benefiting from good press in mainstream media, dog ownership is generally assumed to improve human lives, providing companionship and boosting well-being. While bringing a dog into the family does come with many benefits for a lot of people, the costs of dog ownership should not be overlooked. In fact, previous studies conducted on larger, representative samples of the population could not conclude on a generalisable "pet effect":
pet owners are not always happier and healthier than non-pet owners.
Caring for a dog can be costly in time and money, but also emotionally. For instance, having a dog with behavioural problems or a long-term medical condition may elicit worry, sadness, and guilt. In the long run, these negative feelings might turn into chronic stress or depression.
The more people know about dogs, the more prepared they are for the reality of having one at home. Informing about the positive, but also the negative facets of dog ownership, may help prospective owners to engage in the adoption process more consciously. Yet, comprehensive overviews of the many costs and benefits of sharing life with a dog remain scarce. Which facets of dog ownership are considered the most costly, and which the most beneficial? How do dog owners perceive and describe the positive and negative aspects of their experience?
To find out, researchers at the Department of Ethology at Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE) first asked dog owners to rate a list of 33 neutrally-phrased statements related to pet dogs (such as "Dogs need to be trained and educated", "Dogs can bring mess and dirt into the house", "Dogs can keep children company") on a scale from -3 (big disadvantage) to +3 (big advantage). Participants in the study were then invited to describe in their own words what were, for them, the biggest cost and the biggest benefit of having a dog.
The belief that dogs brighten people's lives was found to be the most positively rated item from the list (2.78 on average), while the short lifespan of dogs was rated the most negatively (-1.67 on average). Adding up all ratings together, the authors noted that positive statements were, on average, rated much higher (2.06) than negative statements (-0.66), tipping the cost/benefit scales in favour of the positive side of the dog ownership experience.
"We were also interested to see if all of these facets of dog ownership could group together into bigger components" said Laura Gillet, PhD student at the Department of Ethology and lead author of the study. "In the end, we found three of them. The first one encompassed the emotional, physical, and social benefits of having a dog. The second one was more on the negative side, referring to the negative emotions and practical challenges arising because of the dog. The third and last component comprised aspects related to the commitment and responsibilities coming with dog ownership in the long term, including, for instance, the time that has to be dedicated to the dog's daily care and training, as well as the influence of the dog on its owner's routine and quality of sleep." This last component divided dog owners the most: while it was positive for some, others saw it as a more neutral, or even as a negative aspect of dog ownership.
"We also analysed open-ended responses because they offer an even better understanding of the costs and benefits" explains Eniko Kubinyi, head of the Department of Ethology at ELTE and principal investigator of the MTA-ELTE 'Momentum' Companion Animal Research Group.
"More than sixty percent of dog owners spontaneously mentioned that the biggest benefit of pet dogs was the meaningful and valued relationship they developed with them.
Dogs were often described as honest, devoted and supportive social partners, showing unconditional, selfless love to their human family." Daily life benefits were the second most frequently cited theme (31%), with owners mentioning that having a dog improved their lifestyle by encouraging physical exercise and outdoors activities, and brought stability and structure in their life. For 15% of respondents, another major advantage of sharing life with a dog was the opportunity to bond with a member of another species, whose intrinsic qualities were deemed numerous.
As for the biggest cost, dog owners were almost unanimous: caring for a dog costs money. Veterinary costs, feeding and other expenses were cited by 95% of the respondents. In comparison, emotional and practical costs were rarely mentioned, only by 4-5% of owners.
In summary, the results of this study show that the dog ownership experience is multifaceted and cannot be described in terms of universal costs and benefits that would apply to all owners. Most importantly, the researchers found that, depending on the owner, the commitment and responsibilities coming with dog ownership can be perceived just as much as beneficial as they can be perceived as an emotional and practical burden. Although a ratio in favour of the positive side of dog ownership was to be expected, especially in a sample of dog enthusiasts, it is also possible that some owners struggled with their dogs without being able to talk about it for fear of being judged and labelled as a "bad owner". Therefore, the authors' findings highlight the importance of publicly addressing not only the positive effects of pet dogs, but also the many challenges coming with dog ownership, to reduce the gap between expectations and reality and improve the lives of both humans and dogs.
Original article: Gillet, L., Turcsán, B., Kubinyi, E. (2025). Perceived costs and benefits of companion dog keeping based on a convenience sample of dog owners. Scientific Reports. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-85254-1
Funding: The study was supported by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences via a grant to the MTA-ELTE 'Lendület/Momentum' Companion Animal Research Group (Grant No. PH1404/21). KE was also supported by the National Brain Programme 3.0 (NAP2022-I-3/2022), and LG by the DKOP-23 Doctoral Excellence Program of the Ministry for Culture and Innovation from the source of the National Research, Development and Innovation Fund. PR work was funded by MEC_N 149124.
