Why You Should Regularly Walk Your Dogs

by Robert Hudson

Dogs love spending time outdoors because they have instincts to explore and seek adventure, making it easier to take them out for a stroll, even in unfavorable weather conditions.  

Taking your dog out for a walk is not only beneficial to them, but it’s definitely good for you, too. Aside from bringing your dog outside to kill boredom, many benefits tag along this process. 

Here are some reasons why you need to walk your dogs. 

Keeps You And Your Dog’s Heart Healthy 

As humans, we are recommended to take 10,000 steps a day to stay healthy. Instead of going alone, why not bring your dog along? Walking is good for your heart health, and being active in this manner helps keep your body strong, in general. These factors apply to your furry friends, too. 

If you’re ever tired of taking a walk by yourself, use your dog as your walking buddy. In the process, though, you should also keep in mind some basic safety tips for walking your dog to ensure that you’re both on the safe side of things.

Keeps Your Dog Fit And Active 

We all know that having sedentary lifestyles could result in obesity, and this fact applies to pets as well. If your dog is overweight, it could probably be because of staying inactive. A sedentary lifestyle is never good for your dogs. Just like humans, dogs also need some exercise and fresh air to keep them fit and active.

Fortunately, obesity could be solved if your dog could burn more calories than they consume. Thus, taking your dog for regular walks is the kind of calorie-burning exercise your dog can use. Staying inactive also leaves your dog vulnerable to contracting diseases because inactivity usually makes them weaker. Immobility can even deteriorate your dog’s muscles and joints.  

Taking your dog out will only take about 30 minutes of your time. It might even be better using one of those friendly no-pull harnesses like the ones from MyBestBark. Dogs cooperate more if they don’t feel coerced to move.

Walk your dogs- Relieves Anxiety 

Dogs, especially younger ones, could also feel apprehension when walking on the streets for the first few times because that’s a foreign activity for them. Still, you can relieve their anxiety by taking them out for regular walks, which helps them get used to factors in their environment that cause anxiety. 

Meanwhile, some dogs suffer from separation anxiety when they’re left alone at home. This scenario is common when you get a new pet to live with you. Spending time with your dog on long walks can help create a bond to relieve their anxiety. As they get to spend their nervous energy by walking, they’ll feel less anxious when left alone as time passes.

Socializes Your Dog 

If you think your dog is antisocial, then perhaps taking the dog for regular walks might be useful to make them more social. Keeping your dog in one environment for too long can make them antisocial, so you need to familiarize your dog with different settings. 

Regular walks will make your dog get used to different smells, sounds, sights, other dogs, and other people. As your dog gets used to various stimuli, they’ll become less nervous. Eventually, they’ll also click with others—dogs or humans—so they’ll be able to interact better with others. And when they find playmates that they’re comfortable with, that would improve their socialization. Walk your dog to make them more sociable

Helps With Digestive And Urinary Health 

Taking your dog for regular walks can help prevent the risk of constipation, as dogs and puppies prefer to relieve themselves on a schedule. Thus, having regular walks with your dog can help them schedule a plan to relieve themselves. This regularity would keep their digestive tract healthier.

In addition, your dog may also be at risk of contracting bladder infections and other urinary tract infections when urine stays inside their bladders for longer periods. Thus, it’s best to normalize taking your dog for a walk to minimize such health issues. 

Less Destructive Behavior 

Dogs tend to become destructive when they’re idle or bored. They could tear up your cushions, scratch your furniture, destroy valuable items, and eat something that can be poisonous. They are destructive because they don’t have anything keeping them busy.  

If you regularly exercise your dog, they will rarely get destructive because when left alone, they may use the time for sleeping and relaxing rather than waste their energy getting in trouble. 

Mental Health 

Confining your dog within the house for too long might not be such a good idea in the long run. They might suffer from boredom, especially if they don’t have regular playmates for regular interaction. The set-up could feel much worse if the dog doesn’t have a lawn or yard where it could freely run around. Such a situation could make them destructive, and they can also suffer from stress as a result. 

Walking the dog will have a significant impact on its mental health. There are many mental stimulations your dog can get as walking relieves stress by exercising the mind. Seemingly simple stimulations like watching new animals, other people, new sightings, and sniffing around actually have great mental benefits for your dog. The activity could also help the dog sleep well, which is always a good way of taking care of its mental well-being. 

Creates A Solid Bond With Your Dog 

When you and your dog spend a lot of time together, you can learn what your dog likes more, what type of environment stimulates them, and you’ll find it easier to identify if they’re feeling unwell because of noticeable behavioral changes. Thus, the more time you spend with your dog, the stronger your bond will become. 

Nothing beats the love and affection that your dog could show you, and it also helps your emotional countenance if you reciprocate this kind of good bonding. In addition, this kind of healthy relationship could help stop your dog’s attention-seeking behaviors like frequent barking, feigning lameness, chasing shadows, whining, and doing strange body postures.  

 

Conclusion

The relationship between humans and their pets is undeniably beneficial for both beings. Time and history have proven that an emotional bond could be formed within such a relationship. And one way of strengthening that bond is by spending some relaxing time with your dog through walking. As enumerated by the many benefits above, it’s always a win-win situation for you and your dog when you both spend some time walking outside—together.