So, you're walking alone down the road, you're just another person, another body, nothing out of the ordinary. Nobody looks at you, nobody even notices you. This is a fact of life for most people, unless you look something out of the ordinary, a celebrity or are pushing a pram. However, notice that as soon as you place yourself at the opposite end of a lead that contains a creature with four legs, head at one end, tail at the other and frequently says 'woof'! For some reason, dogs make an improvement of your social skills.

It is astonishing that as soon as you have a dog by your side, how many people will take notice of you. Well, they're not really taking notice of you, it's the dog they're interested in, but you just happen to be his spokesperson, the one able to communicate the all important information of what type of dog he is, sex, age, name and does he bite!

And as soon as one person is making a fuss, by which time he has a huge grin on his face, tail wagging like the clappers, more and more people tend to congregate, some coming closer, others just looking on.

All of a sudden, your social life has leapt through the roof. You now have more friends in real life than on Facebook!

Seriously though, if you are taking your dog on regular walks at similar times each day, it is amazing how many acquaintances and other people who are out and about with their dogs that you make. It becomes routine and over time closer friendships can and do form. There is an instant feeling of common ground - dog owners.

This can also be fantastic for single people, after all it isn't unheard of that couples have met and found love whilst walking their dogs.

Other people have formed small clubs or organizations, especially if local authorities are restricting dog walking areas, for example closing beaches off to dogs.

But owning a dog does most definitely help to improve your social skills, there is no doubt. People you would never have otherwise met before.

And it also helps the dog too. It's important for him to socialize as well. Meeting up with other dogs, especially those he meets on a regular basis helps him too. It gives him something to look forward to, something to sniff and even the ability to play. There's often nothing more pleasurable than seeing a couple of dogs playing together, having fun and eating up all that energy!

So, it is clear that dogs do help provide an improvement of your social skills. It can give both you and your dog something to look forward to each day and meet other people and dogs. Although having a baby can provide similar social experiences, the big advantage a dog has over a baby is that it will never answer back, is less likely to wake you up in the middle of the night and above all, much cheaper to run!