Take a Walk in the Park

Dogs lead the way to getting daily exercise
Doctors know that walking is one of the easiest ways to get in needed daily exercise. Jenna Tilt from Oregon State University recently completed a study identifying factors that influenced the likelihood that people would take advantage of healthy walks. In this survey, the most common place to take a walk was in a park, followed by walking to coffee shops, grocery stores, and schools. Even though parks were the most common location for walking, only one in every three households went to a park more than once per week! And what predicted who would take these walks? Having a dog in the house, living in a neighborhood near a park, and having a park with high vegetation were all linked to increased walks at parks. So once again, Fido is Nature’s perfect personal trainer — encouraging his humans to get out of the house and take a healthy walk in the park!

Dog walks stimulate important human social interactions
Think you already get enough exercise without Fido?! Dog walks are still great for your health! Researchers in the UK studied the benefits of dog ownership on important, healthy social contacts. In a study published last month in the journal Epidemiology and Infection, dog owners who experienced a high level of contact with other dog owners were more likely to have more than 1 dog, have dogs spend more time off leash, have longer duration walks, vary their walk routes, and own working dogs, herders, or (my personal favorite!) terriers. And if your dog’s meeting more dogs, you’ll have more opportunities to meet and connect with more dog owners. You’ll already have your dogs in common to get that first conversation started and before you know it, you’ll have made a like-minded friend.

Health tips of the day:

- Let Fido encourage you to get daily walks in the park
- Look for parks with lots of vegetation that allow trained dogs to spend time off leash
- Vary your walking habits — look for new locations and take different trails at the park. You might try walking the opposite directions on trails you frequently use for a fun change of pace.
- Let your daily walks give you exercise and needed social interaction. Fido needs daily exercise and socialization and so do YOU for good health!

So order your copy of Fit As Fido today to help you get started on a healthier, Fit As Fido regimen!