8 Ways You Can Benefit From Walking Your Dog

You probably already know the ways that taking a walk can benefit your canine companion. Dogs need exercise to maintain their physical and mental health. What you may not know is that taking your pooch for a walk can also benefit you. Here are some specific ways that you can benefit from walking your dog on a regular basis.

October 14, 2022 • BaxterBoo Team

1. Improved Physical Fitness

Walking is one of the best and most underrated forms of exercise there is. It is a low-impact activity, so it doesn't damage your joints, and you can do it anywhere. You don't need any special equipment, just a good pair of walking shoes. If you do it regularly, it can help you lose weight and increase strength and stamina.

If walking is such good exercise, then why doesn't everybody do it all the time? People's lives are busy, and it can be difficult to establish good habits. It helps if you keep yourself accountable to someone else, including your dog. A dog can be both a coach and a training partner, and while you can make excuses to yourself not to exercise, it is a lot harder to justify yourself to a pet when he is looking at you with eager puppy eyes. A dog can motivate you to put the leash on him and go outside a lot easier than if you were only doing it for yourself.

Research shows that having a dog causes people to walk more than they would otherwise. The average person without a dog only walks about 110 minutes per week, while dog owners spend over 150 minutes walking on average. Health experts say that 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week, or approximately 30 minutes per day, is effective at improving and maintaining physical fitness and general health.

2. Increased Self-Esteem

You could get the same 150 minutes of moderate physical activity by going to the gym and walking on the treadmill five times a week, but it can be intimidating to work out around other people. You may feel that they are judging you, even if they are not. Once you put a collar on a dog, she has complete confidence and trust in you. That unfailing loyalty can help you to feel better about yourself.

3. Improved Sleep

After a long walk, your dog may go directly to his bed and plonk down for a nap. If you have been having trouble sleeping lately, walking your dog more often may be just the remedy for insomnia you have been looking for, though you may not feel the immediate effects as your dog often does.

You may think that exercise helps you sleep because it tires out your body. The truth is a bit more complicated. Exercise causes your body to produce a type of chemical called endorphins. Endorphins attach to the same places in your brain that opioid narcotics do and make you feel calm and relaxed, but without the harmful side effects. Endorphins from exercise help you to sleep better at night and wake up refreshed the next morning.

4. Lower Stress

Exercise increases some body chemicals and decreases others. For example, when you are under a lot of stress, your body produces a hormone called cortisol. This substance works to prime your body for fight or flight against a potential threat. Unfortunately, most of the things that cause you stress in modern life aren't resolved by either fight or flight, so your cortisol levels stay high, which can take a toll on your physical and mental health. Both exercise and spending time with your dog can decrease your cortisol levels. When you take a walk with your dog, you get the benefits of both.

5. Reduced Health Risks

You already know that regularly walking your dog can help you lose weight. Maintaining a healthy weight and increasing physical fitness can help reduce your chances of developing chronic illnesses such as diabetes. Physical activity helps to improve your cardiovascular health so that your heart operates more efficiently. Decreased weight helps to lower blood pressure and cholesterol, which can contribute to cardiovascular disease.

6. Increased Socialization

Getting out of the house to walk the dog gives you a chance to socialize with other people in your neighborhood, whether it be homeowners out in their yards or other people walking their own dogs. When you meet other dog walkers, you already have something in common that can help you strike up a conversation. You may meet new friends this way, and if your dogs like each other, maybe you can all start taking walks together.

7. Better Connection With Nature

The theory of biophilia conjectures that human beings have a genetic need to connect with the natural world. Getting outside and walking the dog helps to fulfill this need. Even if you live in a highly urban environment, you can still see the sky and breathe fresh air, which helps you feel more connected to nature. Of course, it's better still if you can go to the park and walk amid the grass and trees.

8. Reduced Boredom

When dogs get bored, they start looking for mischief to provide the mental stimulation they seek. You may not start chewing the furniture when you get bored, but it isn't a pleasant sensation for you to bear. Getting outside and walking the dog gives you a channel for your excess mental energy as well, and you may find that you start thinking more clearly and creatively as a result.