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If you’re looking to lose some weight this year, consider spending some extra cash on adopting a new dog rather than getting a gym membership. A recent study in the UK has shown that dog owners take their pups on walks an average of two times a day for 24 minutes each. Their research also showed that most dog owners also went on a longer walk with their four-legged friends an average of three times a week. All in all, dog owners averaged around eight hours of exercise a week.
Their study also showed that half of people without dogs got no exercise throughout the week and of those who did walk, jog or hit the gym, the average weekly workout time was around 80 minutes. Better still, most dog owners liked taking their pets on walks, whereas most gym people did not enjoy their workout time.
Any American dog owners want to weigh in? Does anyone really spend 48 minutes (or more) each day walking their dog?
[Image courtesy of dearbarbie's Flickr stream.]
Comments (34)
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Believe it or not, 48 minutes a day is probably low for me and my guy. I adopted a dog last May, a Dutch Shepherd named Koda, and even though he’s a pretty mellow guy he needs at LEAST a 20 minute walk twice a day. More is better, really. We’re still working on “Heel” so that we can start jogging together. I’m hoping that’ll help him get more of the exercise he needs!
posted by Marci on 2-8-2010 at 10:57 am
I walk my dog for about an hour every day. She is a collie mix and gets destructive if she isn’t walked.
posted by Rachel on 2-8-2010 at 11:04 am
In winter I do not walk our dogs everyday. I feel bad about that. I have been taking them for walks on the weekends. Once it gets nicer out I will try to walk them everyday again.
posted by Emma on 2-8-2010 at 11:29 am
I have a Kerry Blue Terrier that I have walked three times a day for the last eleven years. We go for 20 minutes in the morning, about an hour after work and then again half an hour before bed. He is in great shape with no sign of arthritis. I wish I could say the same for myself
posted by PJ on 2-8-2010 at 11:33 am
I am the same as Emma, my pup and I usually don’t walk as often in the winter. But when it’s nice out we go for 30-60 minute walks. Although we only walk once a day because I am not an early enough riser to get a morning jaunt in, the backyard just has to do then.
posted by Heather on 2-8-2010 at 11:50 am
Walking your dog twice a day isn’t any great fitness goal. It’s like saying, ‘If your refrigerator is farther away you’ll burn more calories.” I’ve walked dogs for years and the benefits are nothing close to the time spent in a gym.
posted by Ramsey on 2-8-2010 at 12:00 pm
I don’t fit that profile because Dude, a daschund, doens’t like going outside, let along leaving the yard for a walk. I’ve had to chase him a few times after he wiggles out of his harness a block from home. Convinced he’s double jointed in his shoulders, the collar is tight enough he shouldn’t be able to get out. We do sometimes drive to the park for walks in the warmer months, and he walks just fine there.
posted by k on 2-8-2010 at 12:07 pm
I usually walk my dogs at least 45 minutes a day, though usually on one walk instead of two. When the weather is nicer (we live in Wisconsin), I try to walk them an hour-plus every day.
They’re both younger, medium-to-large size dogs that have lots of energy, though, so they go a little nuts if they don’t get enough activity.
posted by Steve on 2-8-2010 at 12:15 pm
My beagles play with one another and go out into a fenced-in back yard. I love taking them together for walks, but a number of injuries, from a pulled shoulder muscle to a broken foot, have prevented me from taking them out as much as I’d like over the last two years. As it is, walking both of them at once is too much anymore, so when I do walk them, I take them out individually.
posted by Eve on 2-8-2010 at 12:20 pm
The wife and I have a Cairn and Westie (boy and girl) and we don’t walk them as much as we should, especially with 8+” of snow on the ground. Honestly though they are so active in the house with each other that they run and give chase to one another for lots of exercise. We don’t overfeed them or give them too many human treats so they are both in very good health. I think the wife and I could use the walks more than the dogs.
posted by JW on 2-8-2010 at 12:26 pm
I am pretty sure that this only applies to pet owners who live in apartments or have small yards.
People who live in suburbia or farther out feel no obligation to walk their dog because the beast gets plenty of exercise running about in the back yard.
That’s my personal observation. At the apartments near my work, I see people walking their puppies all of the time. But, in my large-yard neighborhood, it is a rare sight.
posted by n2y2 on 2-8-2010 at 12:39 pm
Our dogs don’t really have to be walked.
posted by Sara in AL on 2-8-2010 at 12:45 pm
My Australian Shepherd/German Shepherd mix absolutely requires two walks a day, at least a mile per walk (and preferably more.
I disagree with n2y2 — I have a large yard, but most dogs do not get much exercise in the yard. Certainly not at the level that a walk provides.
posted by Leigh in CO on 2-8-2010 at 12:50 pm
I walk my Jack Russell before and after work. Total time about 1hr 45 minutes. I live in suburbia and I see many dog walkers, but I bet there are more people that never walk their dogs.
posted by al on 2-8-2010 at 2:05 pm
We adopted our girl this fall, and I have lost more than 10 lbs since then! Even when I had access to a gym for free, I rarely went, but my dog encourages me to get moving even when I don’t want to.
posted by Liz on 2-8-2010 at 2:12 pm
Remus, a 70 lbs. Heinz 57, gets a 2-5 mile jog about every other day , depending if it is my wife or I leading the jog, during the winter (we live in Minnesota). On the days we don’t jog he gets a a walk, which I think is more mentally stimulating. as opposed to the physical stimulation he gets while jogging. The total time spent exercising with our dog usually runs 30-45 minutes per day.
posted by Arian on 2-8-2010 at 2:22 pm
I probably only actually walk my dog 20 minutes a day, but I take her to a field to run around in the evenings. So, she gets excercise, and I really just stand there.
posted by Kelsey on 2-8-2010 at 2:26 pm
@n2y2
I lived out in the county renting a house w/ a roommate and his Akita. It was fenced in and she had lots of room, but unless we were out playing w/ her (which in winter was more chore than fun) she didn’t get much exercise. She took to digging, and several times got out of the chain link fence. Akitas are very strong, mostly she’d push on the loose bottom of the fence to get out. She got clipped by a car once, but after a trip to the emegency vet and Xray, she was fine.
Aside from the residential road we lived on (maybe a long block) it was all rural 2 lane highways w/ 40 or 50 mph speed limits and no sidewalks. We played w/ her in the house a lot, rope bones, wrestling, but the only way to get her proper exercise was to put her in the car and go to the park, which just isn’t convenient to do every day.
Most dogs (bigger than a toy) need to be walked, a yard isn’t enough. It’s almost cruel not to walk them, yard or no.
@ PJ, when I’ve had my sister’s Kerry Blue, he needed 3 good walks a day.
posted by Big Jonny on 2-8-2010 at 2:39 pm
Anyone who’s ever had a destructive or rambunctious dog knows that 45 minutes of walking is not enough! We had a pit bull that I walked for an hour in the morning and and hour at night, even when it was freezing cold. It gave him an outlet for all that energy, an outlet he just couldn’t get by himself in a yard. Plus, he got some one on one time with us!
posted by Cathy in NH on 2-8-2010 at 2:41 pm
I’m of the truely lazy dog owners, and I use a treadmill.
My dog just loves to run so much, so I put her on the treadmill for a few minutes at a time, she gets above 7mph and has a huge smile on her face.
posted by Wayne on 2-8-2010 at 3:14 pm
yup. Pit bulls are high energy, she needs to walk and run so 45 minutes of walking a day is actualy the bare minimum and if I did that too often she would probably get restless. I just got her last april and hope to rollerblade with her next summer.
posted by Elaine on 2-8-2010 at 3:16 pm
That cute little Boston butt is melting my heart. Why are Boston Terriers so difficult to adopt IN BOSTON?? Argh.
posted by Cynthia Parsons on 2-8-2010 at 3:19 pm
I have a boxer and if we are not walking or running, we are playing in the backyard or wrestling in the living room.
When I use my wii fit in the winter and do the run, I jog in a large circle in the house and she jogs indoors with me. Come summer we’ll hike the battlefield and other trails locally.
no room for laziness with mouthy magoo whining at me. But I love it and wouldn’t trade her for the world.
Getting her helped my lose 30 lbs and keep if off for the past 4 years.
posted by JC on 2-8-2010 at 5:11 pm
I got my dog (lab/terrier mix) in mid-December and have lost five pounds since then (AND canceled my gym membership).
I never went to the gym, but I walk my little buddy at least 45 minutes four times a week and at least 1.5 hours on the weekend.
It’s good for both of us.
posted by Lindsey on 2-8-2010 at 5:11 pm
Whoa, I seem to be taking a bunch of fire here. I have not had a pooch since I was a kid (An Aussie Sheppard that ran all day long in the fields without being encouraged).
What I said above was only my observation. Nearly all of my neighbors have dogs, and only one of them ever takes their dog out for a regular walk. She only walks her dog 300 feet to the community mailbox and back every day.
Compare that to the apartments outside my cube window where to occupants are constantly taking a stroll with the K9s. What’s a guys supposed to deduce? It definitely not that one group is lazier.
The dog gets antsy in an house, you let him out the back door; in a apartment, that is not an option.
posted by n2y2 on 2-8-2010 at 6:02 pm
I have to agree with n2y2. I recently moved into an apartment for the first time and walk my dog much more often. I had a home with a yard, and found it really easy to get lazy and just let him out.
I also go to the gym 3-4 times weekly, but sometimes it feels good to be lazy and not walk the dog.
posted by Colin on 2-8-2010 at 7:17 pm
My chocolate lab and I go for a hour’s walk most days. Any less exercise and she starts to get destructive. Also, even on days when I am exhausted and the LAST thing I want to do is go for a walk, she forces me to do something active. I find the study to be probably pretty close to accurate for a lot of dog owners.
posted by Auburn on 2-8-2010 at 7:57 pm
I am a bad dog owner during the cold months. I used to walk the dogs close to an hour a day. Now I have a baby and live in NJ where the weather has been UCK! this year so not much walking.
Recaptcha: toupees sold
posted by Di on 2-8-2010 at 9:03 pm
Some of this depends on where you live. In America, a lot of people have large, enclosed yards, and I suspect they generally walk their dogs less. But if you live in an apartment, you really need to take your dog out fairly often. I walk mine 3 times a day, for an average of 15-20 minutes each time. After years of this, we’ve built up to a pace that most people can’t match unless they’re jogging. I’m not sure it’s a great cardio workout, but it certainly burns calories.
posted by Steve on 2-8-2010 at 9:37 pm
I’m used to walking my dog at least a half hour per day with about an hour (3-4 miles) on weekends. I was never a dog person until my wife got an American Bulldog and I had to walk her. It is a very atavistic feeling running and walking through the brush with your packmate. We both look forward to it.
posted by David on 2-8-2010 at 10:50 pm
I definitely believe dog ownership has positive health benefits, especially an active breed like my Jack Russells. I’ve seen statistics that say new dog ownership in general correlates more closely to weight loss than new gym membership, so there ya go. Also has positive effects on the brain – pet therapy and so on.
posted by Jack Russell on 2-9-2010 at 7:47 am
48 minutes a day is not hard if you take the dogs out three times a day. Even a 10 minute walk out and back (30 minutes) will give you an hour a day.
posted by Joseph Singer on 2-9-2010 at 6:24 pm
I have a 1 year old Chow Chow. I take him on 3 walks a day, for 30 minutes to an hour each. We often go walking with friends and their dogs or to the dog park. I love it, he loves it. Owning a dog is a wonderful way to get out into nature, meet new people, and have a fun time. :)
posted by Aidan on 2-11-2010 at 11:08 am
Get off the blogs and walk your bitches!
posted by Christopher on 5-24-2010 at 8:00 pm