Like most parents of teens, you’re probably constantly trying to decode what actually supports your kids’ emotional well-being. Some days it feels like a moving target: school pressure, friendship drama, big emotions, changing hormones—it’s a lot. But one constant in your house could be… your dog. Your family pup can somehow manage to crack open even the moodiest teen shell with a single nudge.

So when I came across a new study in iScience suggesting that having a dog during adolescence might actually shape kids’ gut microbiome, and even relate to better mental health, I stopped mid-scroll. It tracks.

What the Study Found

Researchers compared teens who live with dogs to teens who don’t. And the dog-owning teens scored lower on psychological “problem” areas. Think: things like mood issue

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