Walk the dog or go to the gym?! (part 2)

Another article appeared on this topic in November 2009. This one was commissioned by Bob Martin (the company that does worm tablets etc). The dog product companies have obviously realised this story is a good way to get into the national press…

This study was a larger study – 5,000 people, including 3,000 dog owners. The Butchers study (see the Butchers Study here) gave statistics on how far dog owners walked vs gym goes. This study was more about the time spent doing exercise. The findings were:

– the average dog owner exercises their animal twice a day for 24 minutes each time – a total of 5 hours and 38 minutes per week. On top of that, the average dog owner takes their dog out for 3 long walks each week – adding a further 2 hours, 33 minutes to the total.

– those without a dog spend an average of just 1hour and 20 minutes a week exercising. The bigger issue is that 47% of non dog owners do no exercise at all.

We have a rescue dog and we walk her 3 times a day (Andy and I share the walks) for 20-30 mins each time and we also do longer walks a couple of times a week. We haven’t been to the gym since we got her (not that we went that much before)!

2 thoughts on “Walk the dog or go to the gym?! (part 2)

  • July 4, 2013 at 7:20 am
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    Great blog. We too have a rescue dog. Great way to walk regularly and meet friends. Must go – off on mutt strutt number 1 of 3 with Maximus our gorgeous our gorgeous chocolate covered (tee hee) brown lab.

    Liz
    Ps pet insurance is surely cheaper than the gym? Discuss

    • July 4, 2013 at 8:40 am
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      Good point Liz! We get cat & dog insurance for less than the price of one gym membership – not that the cat helps with exercise at all!
      Enjoy the walks :-)

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