Pack leaders, mastering the walk is a must! Walking your dog daily is a great way to fulfill Fido's physical and mental health needs, and it's also good for your own health.
In fact, a study in the Journal of Physical Activity and Health showed that dog owners who walk their dogs are 34 percent more likely than others to be physically fit. And we all want to look and feel good, right? I exercise every morning in addition to walking the pack, and I need that activity to get my blood flowing. It makes me feel alive and ready to take on the day ahead.
I learn more and more from dogs every day. In the simplest of times or the most complex, the fulfillment I get from my own exercise brings me fulfillment. I see how that fulfillment transforms dogs, and I work hard on bringing that into my life; constantly evolving, growing, and taking strides to be better. I hope that all people take that approach to life -- setting goals but never feeling finished.
Sadly, the JPAH study also found that not everyone who owned dogs walked them, only two-thirds do, and even many dog walkers are not sufficiently exercising the dogs or themselves -- about half of the walkers didn't walk frequently enough or long enough to accumulate at least 150 minutes of walking per week, which is the minimum recommendation to be moderately active. Disappointingly, some people didn't walk their dogs at all, mostly because they had a yard and felt that was enough.
So this tells me a simple fact -- I need to be doing more to educate dog owners and make them aware of how important exercise is for their dog to be fulfilled and live happy, harmonious lives! Plus, the humans will benefit from it too, in more ways than one. So, my mission continues. Fall is almost here, the trees are looking beautiful, so set some goals and get out there walking.
Also on HuffPost:
