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WHY SHY PEOPLE SHOULD GET THEMSELVES A DOG

LONDON : Are you shy? Can't make small talk or start a conversation? Get a dog.

Apart from being man's and woman's best friend and a loyal companion, British psychologists have found that a dog is a wonderful social ice-breaker that can help the shy and retiring meet new people.

"Dogs don't involve any feelings of social discomfort", said psychologist June McNicholas. "We live in a culture and society that is very restrained in terms of talking to each other easily," the psychologist at the University of Warwick said. Dogs are a safe topic of conversation and can help spark a rapport between total strangers.

To prove just how socially helpful dogs can be McNicholas and her colleague recorded the number of social interactions of a woman doing the same daily outdoor routine with and without a dog for five days.

When the woman was accompanied by her canine friend 65 people started conversation with her compared to just three when she was without the animal. In a second experiment researchers showed a dog improved social interactions regardless of how scruffy or well dressed the man was or how vicious or friendly the dog appeared. Even if both looked unfriendly, the man was approached more often with the dog than without it.

"The dog is the ice breaker" said McNicholas, whose study is published in the British Journal of Psychology.

- Reuters

So dog lovers, do we see an increase in the dog sales and adoption of dogs to overcome shyness????

You can do the same with cats too ... !!!!

I hope SPCA and PAWS will be prepared for the on-slaught

COOLDOG