If You Have to Exercise More, Get a Dog

As one gets older, chances are the doctor will recommend ‘more physical activity’.  This can result in an expensive gym subscription (which will remain unused after the first few months) or the purchase of a home exercise machine, like a treadmill or an exercise bike.  I’ve tried them all, but the one that works best has 4 legs and a wagging tail.  Now a study has been reported in the Journal of Physical Activity and Health that bears out my suspicion – dog ownership is associated with more leisure time spent walking; and it’s good for the dog, too.

A Michigan State University epidemiologist used data from the 2005 Michigan Behavioral Risk Factor Survey, which analyzed the amount of leisure-time physical activity a person gets. This included such activities as taking part in sports, targeted exercising (e.g. at the gym), and recreational activities like dancing, gardening, and walking. The federally-recommended amount of moderately rigorous activity is at least 150 minutes a week (e.g. 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week).

Survey results were available from almost 6,000 participants.  Just over 40% of them owned a dog, and of these 61% walked their dog for at least 10 minutes at a time.  But only 27% reached the desirable 150 minutes a week.  Nevertheless, the dog owners did better than the non-dog owners. The odds of a dog owner reaching 150 minutes a week through walking were 34% higher, and the odds of dog owners doing any leisure-time activity (e.g. gardening) were 69% higher.

There were other, minor, findings: Younger and older dog owners got the most physical activity with their dogs; the middle-aged had less time available.  Dogs less than a year old were more likely to be walked than older dogs, while dogs over 45 pounds were walked more than small dogs.

The hidden benefit of having a dog is the guilt trip he gives you if you miss out a walk, just because the weather seems wrong or you want to watch TV.  Walking the dog is perfect exercise for older people – indeed, walking with a dog increases walking speed by 28%, compared with walking with a human companion.  And they don’t talk too much!