We are all pretty familiar now with the fact that animals tend to bring out the best in people. Most likely if you go on a walk by yourself, people will pretty much ignore you. That is because as strangers, there is always a trust issue with people. But if you take a dog with you, people are much more apt to approach you or say hi. A dog or an animal bridges the gap of distrust and relaxes perfect strangers around each other.

Animals are known to be honest in their feelings of love and this tends to add enrichment to our lives. Animals are very important to many people because they bring so much happiness to us. This kind of happiness is usually defined as a satisfaction with life and a general sense of well-being. Interaction with animals most often involves touching and petting them and the benefits to both humans and the animals are quite obvious. Scientifically though it has been proven that stroking an animal will cause physical and emotional benefits to humans such as relaxation, lower blood pressure, improved long- and short-term memory, and sensory stimuli.

But humans are not the only recipients of the power of touch. Animals also benefit greatly from this type of interaction. In their own world with their own species, most animals interact with each other by cuddling, nuzzling, licking and preening those that they love. It creates a bond between them which is especially essential when it comes to caring for their young who in turn perpetuate the continuance of their species.

So it should not be to hard to understand that when a human and animal also interact that the animal also feels much happiness and many times a strong bond with the human. Physiologically, we are very similar in our sensory perception and the makeup of our nervous systems. It is a two way street to happiness, well-being and love and a wonderful way to bridge the gap between man and animal.

The video below is an endearing and somewhat comical portrayal of the complete enjoyment that a little owl is experiencing by being petted by someone. The expressions of joy on his face are quite precious.