Owning a Dog Can Lead to More Exercise, Weight Loss

Unlike your wife, girlfriend or, heaven-forbid, your mother, they don't look at you scornfully when you turn the pages of the paper, too loud, at the breakfast table. They don't care what position you leave the toilet seat. They shower you with unconditional love. They even rummage through the garbage, just in case you threw something still remotely edible away. They're not called man's best friend for nothing, but now, adding to the veritable laundry list of benefits, is one that cannot be overlooked in the ever more complex human to canine symbiotic relationship. Owning or owing to a dog, can help you fight fat.

Sure, dogs, like their owners often times display mastery at certain highly-skilled techniques like: laying in the prostrate position, all around stillness, loafing, consuming high quantities of unnecessary foods and sleeping several hours during mid-day. Canines, however, much like their human counterparts, can be shaken from their doldrums very easily and are, unlike humans, programmed to run until their heart explodes. While no one is endorsing the ridiculous idea of running a poor pooch until his ticker ticks its last tock, they are endorsing the idea that dog owners - and non-owners alike - run or walk with dogs as a humane way for both animal and person to achieve a better sense of fitness and longevity in their lives.

A new study at the University of Missouri-Columbia found that pet responsibility forced people to walk more often and for longer periods of time. The program worked so well that the group averaged a weight loss of 14 pounds during the one-year program. The reciprocities one reaps by having a dog in the house or by undertaking the responsibility of caring for such an animal, as in the study (wherein the participants merely volunteered at a local shelter) can be astounding. Many people in the study walked longer distances and periods of time, not for their own benefit, but rather for the benefit of the animals; suggesting a larger sense of responsibility can be used to motivate a person to exercise.

For dog owners and dog lovers, too (which bares the question: who doesn't love a dog?) the benefits seem to be growing in leaps and bounds. Furthermore, the study's next goal is to discover the benefits of canine companionship at the gym. Because walking is merely a single aspect to the overall overhauling of a person's physical health, the university seeks information on how much can a dog encourage a person to workout, regardless of canine involvement. The belief is that a pooch can be an outlet of support, a boost to self-esteem and a voice of encouragement. If nothing else, it'll make meeting the women at the gym a whole lot easier.