positive influence dogs can bring to people?

Question
Hello, my name is Seong Cheon, and I am a reporter for magazine called Jayplay. I have been writing an article on "positive influence people can get by training and hanging out with dogs." and after searching the web for few hours, I found that you could be the perfect expert source to tell me about this issue. Could you please explain few positive influence people can get by hanging out with dogs? I am desperate to find out about this so that I could improve credibility of my article.
I will include your name and your status as an expert in my article. Thank you very much! and please reply me as soon as possible!

Sincerely,
Seong Cheon
Reporter for Jayplay at the University of Kansas.
www.kansan.com/jayplay


Answer
Many positive influences are well know, the drop in blood pressure when petting a dog, etc.  One less well know positive influence is becoming better able to manage people by learning positive techniques in working with dogs.  Yelling at a dog works even more poorly than with people.  Although yelling at people never has worked very well with people, many people continue to do it.  To get a dog to do something, you need to let it know what you want, and then reward it when it does.  It is amazing what dogs can be trained to do using positive techniques.  I see this as a volunteer with dog guides and other service dogs.  Dogs can be trained to stand up and turn lights on and off with their nose.  They can be sent in another room and bring the phone or something.  The skills and patience you learn working with a dog can be applied to working with people.