Every morning, 83-year-old Joyce clips on her dog Rusty’s leash and walks the quiet backstreets of Bendigo. “He gives me a reason to get up,” she says. “Otherwise, I’d probably still be in bed with my tea at lunchtime.”
It’s a simple act, a woman and her dog on a daily loop – but it might be more profound than it looks. A recent major UK study from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA), involving over 7,000 older adults, found that older dog owners were 40% less likely to develop dementia than their peers. The effect didn’t extend to cat owners – prompting researchers to dig deeper into what dogs might be doing for our brains.
And it’s raising a bigger question: Should pet ownership, especially in regional and rural areas, be recognised as more than just comfort? Could it be a public health strategy?
The Science: Why Dogs Might Help Delay Dementia
Research published in 2024 by the American Academy of Neurology, tracking the habits and health outcomes of nearly 14,000 older adults. The headline finding: older dog owners were significantly less likely to develop dementia over time.
While researchers were cautious about claiming direct causation, the protective effect of dog ownership held even after adjusting for factors like age, education, and baseline health.
Additional studies support this:
- A 2019 BMC Geriatrics study found that dog ownership among older adults was linked with higher physical activity, lower BMI, and lower rates of depression.
- In Japan, a longitudinal study of seniors found that dog walking was associated with greater cognitive resilience.
- In Sweden, researchers discovered that seniors who walked dogs had lower blood pressure, better cholesterol profiles, and greater social connection.
It’s not that cats aren’t comforting, they are. But they don’t demand the same structured, physical, and social engagement. And it’s that engagement that might be key to preserving cognition.
What Makes Dogs So Good for Brain Health?
The answer lies in routine, movement, and meaning.
Dogs thrive on structure. They need feeding, walking, and companionship, and that creates daily anchors for older adults, particularly those living alone. This consistency supports executive function and memory retention, two areas often affected in the early stages of dementia.
Walking a dog isn’t just physical exercise, it’s cardiovascular health, exposure to vitamin D, and often, a casual chat with a neighbour or passerby. Each of these elements matters. Loneliness has now been recognised as a medical risk factor for dementia, comparable to smoking or obesity.
“A dog is not just a pet, it’s a partner in health,” says Dr. Emily Tran, a geriatrician serving several regional towns in northeast Victoria. “They give older adults a sense of responsibility, connection, and purpose. That’s powerful medicine.”
Beyond Brains: The Emotional Benefits of Pet Companionship
Cognitive health is one piece of the puzzle. Emotional wellbeing is another.
Pet ownership has long been associated with reduced stress, anxiety, and depression in older adults. Stroking a pet can reduce cortisol levels (a stress hormone) and increase oxytocin (the bonding hormone). For those with progressing dementia, the presence of a calm, familiar animal can reduce agitation and sundowning symptoms.
In aged care facilities across Australia, therapy dogs are already being used with noticeable results. Residents who were once withdrawn or non-verbal often light up in the presence of an animal. In some cases, they recall the names of dogs they owned decades ago, unlocking memory through sensory and emotional cues.
Rural Realities: Pets as Lifelines in the Country
In regional and rural Australia, pets aren’t just companions, they’re family.
Statistics show that rural Australians are more likely to own dogs than city dwellers. With greater space, community norms, and more outdoor time, pets are an embedded part of daily life. But that also means their loss — due to health decline, moving into care, or financial hardship, can be even more devastating.
Ruth, 78, from Bairnsdale, puts it plainly:
“When my husband passed, I didn’t see anyone for days – but old Banjo needed his dinner and his walk. He saved me.”
Yet there are challenges:
- Limited access to affordable vet care or pet food delivery services.
- Aged care facilities that don’t allow pets.
- Home care packages that don’t include support for pet-related costs.
These barriers risk cutting older people off from one of their most meaningful relationships, at a time they may need it most.
The Policy Gap: Are Our Systems Pet-Friendly?
Currently, most aged care homes do not allow personal pets, even though the research increasingly supports their value.
A few pilot programs are shifting that narrative:
- HammondCare, a dementia care leader, has trialled pet-friendly accommodation and visiting pet services with positive outcomes.
- In Japan and the Netherlands, shared-responsibility pet models are being explored in care homes.
In Australia’s upcoming Support at Home reforms, there’s an opportunity: to fund pet support as part of broader wellbeing services. This could include:
- Subsidised pet food or grooming for eligible older adults.
- Volunteer dog-walking services.
- Vet travel support in rural areas.
- Partnerships with rescue groups to match seniors with senior pets.
These small policy tweaks could have outsized impacts, not just for cognition, but for life satisfaction, autonomy, and emotional health.
Not Ready for a Full-Time Pet? Alternatives That Still Help
Even for older adults who can’t manage full-time pet care, there are alternatives:
- Therapy animal visits: increasingly common in aged care homes.
- Pet fostering: short-term care of animals in need of homes.
- Borrow-a-dog programs: local groups, neighbours, or services like Pawshake offer informal dog-sharing arrangements.
- Robotic pets: while controversial, some people with advanced dementia respond positively to lifelike robotic dogs and cats. While not a replacement for the real thing, they can offer sensory comfort.
The goal is connection — whether that’s through fur, feathers, or familiar routines.
Companionship is Medicine
We often talk about pills and policies when we talk about dementia. But what if the best prescription came on four legs and wagged its tail?
The research is increasingly clear: pet ownership, especially dogs, may help reduce dementia risk and dramatically improve quality of life. But our systems haven’t caught up. Especially in regional areas, where older adults may live alone, with fewer formal supports, the humble dog could be one of our greatest untapped resources.
Let’s not overlook the obvious. Let’s design policy, aged care models, and home support services that recognise the profound value of pet companionship.
