- that children who live with dogs may have fewer colds?
Turns out that living with dogs decreases susceptibility to respiratory syncytial virus, which causes the common cold and bronchiolitis. Being around dogs "trains" children's immune systems to resist asthma, according to research from the University of California, San Francisco. Doctors have long recognized the decreased incidence of asthma in kids with dogs, but this study is the first to identify a contributing factor.