Having a furry pet at home while you’re growing up could reduce your chances of developing allergies, say researchers. The German study found having a pet dog as a child was likely to make you less sensitive to the causes of allergies like asthma, eczema and hay fever. It’s thought kids with furry pets are exposed to germs on the animal’s fur early on in life, which helps their bodies learn to cope with them. The findings are from a six-year study of 9,000 children aged six and under.

Joachim Heinrich, who was involved with the study, said their results clearly showed that having a dog in the home when you’re a kid made you less likely to be allergic to pollen and other things. But the effect was not seen in children who had frequent contact with dogs but did not have one at home, he added.