Dogs have been 'part of the family' for thousands of years, and we all know families share their microbes. A new study led by researchers at the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare suggests that specific microbes in household dust, known to come from dogs, may even improve children's respiratory outcomes in their first year of life. (ChristopherBernard/iStock/Getty Images)"Respiratory tract infections in early childhood are a significant risk factor for asthma," says chief researcher Anne Karvonen. "When some of children's respiratory tract infections can be prevented with dog-associated microbes, this may also reduce the child's risk of developing asthma later in life." However, asthma outcomes didn't seem to change, at least at the population level, if the children's exposure to dogs ended.