Don Walker, an MIT PhD and former research scientist, knows a good thing when he sees one and that includes his Bichon, Mandy.

A sociable bundle of white fur who seems to be perpetually smiling, Mandy makes sure Walker gets plenty of exercise each day on their walks around St. Andrews Village. And during the course of those walks she also facilitates many conversations.

“I think more people know her name than know my name,” Walker said.

The health benefits of pets have been known or at least suspected for centuries. Florence Nightingale was a believer in the therapeutic effects of animals 150 years ago. But in recent years, scientific research is finding more and more specific ways that human-animal interactions result in measurable health improvements.

That research is one reason that St. Andrews has always been pet friendly, said St. Andrews Executive Director Wendy Roberts.

“St. Andrews Village encourages pets because we see firsthand what an important role they play in the well-being and happiness of our residents, and staff members here enjoy residents’ pets,” said Roberts, who has two dogs of her own at home.

Not only do dog owners like Walker tend to get more exercise, but owning pets is also associated with myriad other health benefits.

A series of studies since the 1970s have confirmed pets’ ability to lower stress and blood pressure levels and more recent research finds that interacting with pets can increase the level of the hormone oxytocin, which is linked to feeling happy and trusting.

That means that pet owners, on average at least, not only feel better, they are also healthier, because oxytocin also plays a role in helping people heal and grow new cells.

None of this comes as a surprise to Walker, who appreciates not only the way that Mandy’s happy greeting makes his own day nicer, but also the way she brightens the moods of residents in the Gregory Wing long-term care facility, where Mandy and Walker are frequent visitors.

“It peps them up and improves their morale,” Walker said.

Former psychiatric nurse practitioner Carol Murtaugh was a dog owner throughout a 40-year career in public health, crisis intervention and education, including when she founded a nursing program for untraditional students. When she moved into the Village, her much beloved dog Duchess came with her and become a popular member of the Village community.

After Duchess passed, Murtaugh found Acquira, a beautiful gray and white cat, at the Lincoln County Animal Shelter. Murtaugh said the role of animals becomes even more important as people age.

“As you grow older, your contemporaries have died and your parents have died, so there is a loneliness coded into growing old. Animals can fill in part of that loneliness,” she said.

Acquira is a companion, a source of conversation with other pet lovers and she is also just beautiful to look at, said Murtaugh. But most of all, she is another living being who listens and responds.

“They keep you moving, physically and emotionally and they keep you from becoming too self-centered.”

For more information about the Village, please call Executive Director Wendy Roberts at 207-633-0920.