Walking the Dog Trumps Going to the Gym
Thu, January 21, 2010 at 03:00AM A pet health expert in UK surveyed 3,000 dog owners, and found 86% of them walked their pet every day, whereas only 16% said they enjoyed going to the gym for exercise. Looked at another way, nearly 70% of those surveyed said that going to the gym was a chore, compared with 22% of dog owners who felt that walking the dog was work. On average, dog owners in the UK walk about 7 hours a week, while non-owners exercise less than 90 minutes a week, either on their own or at the gym.
Rebecca Johnson, director of the Research Center for Human-Animal Interaction at the University of Missouri has stated: “Pets provide unconditional love and acceptance and may be part of answers to societal problems, such as inactivity and obesity." I’ve reported before on her studies of the benefits of walking with dogs rather than humans. Older people who walked their dogs improved their walking capabilities by 28%," she said. "Those who walked with humans had a 4 percent increase in their walking capabilities."
It’s clear to me that dog ownership has many health benefits that far outweigh the occasional inconvenience and the need to clean up after them. And don’t forget having to let them in and out of the house breaks up your couch-potato immobility – see Monday’s post.
Reader Comments (1)
This is a great point. I once met an ex drug addict who told me walking his dog helped him kill his addiction. It's a remarkable bond we share with canines...