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Pete Wedderburn 19 October 2015 1:03pm BST Does your dog have a positive - or a negative - impact on your life? With over a quarter of all households in the UK owning dogs, there's no

doubt that our canine friends must affect us significantly. For most people, dogs are good news: they cheer us up, make us laugh, reduce our stress and keep us company. Yes, of course owning

a dog involves work and commitment, but time spent with a dog – whether walking, petting or feeding - is almost always accompanied by a “feel good” factor. Perhaps, however, for some of us,

owning a dog may not be so positive. What about those dark, cold, rainy days where you don't feel like taking the mutt for a walk before work? Or those times when the dog causes

expensive damage by scratching at the door or chewing furniture? Or what about those eye-watering vet bills that you need to pay for? Animal charity Dogs for Good (the new name for Dogs for

the Disabled), is working with the University of Lincoln to try to learn more about the partnership between people and their pets. The charity is asking people to rank the top three effects

their pet dog has on their quality of life. The survey takes less than a minute to complete, and the results will help focus attention on the most significant benefits gained from dog

ownership.  Dogs for Good, is an innovative charity that has a track record of exploring ways that dogs can help people overcome specific challenges, enriching and improving human lives and

communities. The charity provides assistance dogs that support adults and children with a range of disabilities, as well as children with autism. Activity and therapy dogs are trained to

work with specialist handlers in communities and schools. This latest survey follows a previous study that investigated the benefits of an assistance dog for people with a physical

disability. Significantly, the benefits were found to extend beyond the expected practical support to include substantial improvements in the health and emotional well-being of human dog

carers. A more comprehensive view of the broader benefits of dog ownership will help the charity explore what more can be done to work with dogs to improve human health and well being. Your

opinion will be valued: to complete the survey, click here.