It's A Dog's Life #392
It's strange how one little thing can make a big change in your life.
This week my wife and I adopted a dog! We have had three dogs throughout our marriage, but it's been ten years or so since the last one. We needed a dog. So this week we adopted Dill, a four-month-old Australian mix. We got him from a local Humane Society shelter. Technically we bought him for a fee. (See photo.) He weighs just ten pounds, and he's rambunctious and very affectionate.
He's still adjusting to our routine, or should I say my wife and I are adjusting to his. We were both up late last night because he was crying in his crate, and we needed to comfort him. He has gotten attached to us very quickly, and gets really upset if one of us goes out of the room.
But really, the dog has done a lot for us. With the children grown up and the grandkids not coming as often, we needed Dill.
The American Kennel Club says dogs make you feel less alone, and studies going as far back as 1950 have concluded that dog owners have lower risk of death from heart attacks, they lower blood pressure and improved responses to stress. 
(Dill having fun)
Dog owners spend nearly 300 minutes every week walking their dogs, 200 minutes more than people without a dog, and that, too, is healthier.
Dogs also make people more social. Dogs can make us more approachable, and they are a conversation starter. In fact, my wife and I got a quick taste of that with our first visit to the pet store to get supplies for Dill.
More science here: A 2009 study in Japan found that staring into a dog's eyes can raise your level of oxytocin, commonly called the "love hormone".
We have all heard that dogs will give you unconditional love. There's lots of science to back that up.
Thanks, Dill!
https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/lifestyle/10-science-based-benefits-dog/
News You May Have Missed!
This past week I also published an article in The Fredericksburg Advance on food insecurity. The focus there was on the local population here in Virginia, but it's a nationwide problem.
Food Insecurity is defined as “the inability to provide proper nutrition three times a day, or a struggle to have healthy food or enough food.”
And the number of people needing food assistance is rising. Inflation is a big part of the problem. Those in lower income brackets find themselves unable to feed their families.
Food banks are trying to meet the need across the country. Most of their clients are families with children or senior citizens on fixed incomes.
Nationwide, more than 3.5 million beneficiaries of
The situation could get worse. There’s a proposal in Congress to cut more than $200 million nationwide from SNAP and from the nutrition program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC).
There have been significant cutbacks from the Trump administration in federal programs providing food assistance, mainly food commodities, forcing the local food banks to purchase more food with cash.
It's worse in the summer months when children are out of school and not getting their subsidized breakfast or lunch.
And things are not likely to get much better any time soon. The U.S. Labor Department says consumer prices were up 4.2% in May, the third straight month of increases.
Many people won't use food banks because of the stigma attached, a stigma that grows daily as the country moves more toward the right.
Something is wrong when the richest country in the world somehow can't make sure its population has enough to eat. There is likely a food pantry or warehouse near you. Find it and donate.
Dumbest Quote Of The Week!
This week's dumb quote comes from various White House spokesmen, including Davis Ingle who say "there is no conflict of interest" for the President from that UFC fight staged on the White House lawn at a cost of $60 million taxpayer dollars.
Just prior to the event being announced Trump's trust bought as much as $50,000 worth of stock in UFC's parent company, and they will be selling "Trump Coins" at the event with prices between $250 and $12,000 from a company that has a licensing agreement with the Trump Organization, which obviously gets a piece of the pie.
https://www.yahoo.com/sports/articles/cage-fights-white-house-know-050307624.html
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