Having a dog in the house reduces the risk that young children will develop allergies later in life, German researchers say.

The finding, based on a six-year study of 9,000 children, lends weight to the theory that growing up with a pet conditions the immune system and makes it less sensitive to potential triggers for allergies like asthma, eczema and hay fever.

“Our results show clearly that the presence of a dog in the home during subjects’ infancy is associated with a significantly low level of sensitisation to pollens and inhaled allergens,” said Joachim Heinrich of the National Research Center for Environmental Health in Munich.

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