The Pros to Jogging with Your Dog
Some people jump out of bed at dawn, clap their hands, and go for a six-mile run (and others hate those people!). But, if you’re among those jumping to jog, your dog would love to join you.
In fact, jogging with your dog has many more benefits to jogging alone. Some of these include:
Jogging together promotes safety: Jogging with a dog is safer than jogging alone, especially if you’re running in the dark or if you’re a woman. Even small dogs can act as a deterrent because they bark and draw attention.
Jogging together offers a two-for-one-exercise plan: Jogging with a dog also allows you to kill two birds with one stone: both you and your dog get in a workout. This is particularly beneficial to people on tight schedules who struggle to find time to take their dog on walks.
Jogging together promotes health: The benefits to exercise are similar in both species – it lowers blood pressure, keeps extra weight off, releases endorphins, decreases the risk of all sorts of diseases strengthens the heart, keeps the joints healthy, and reduces anxiety and feelings of sadness.
Jogging together offers an opportunity to bond: Any time you spend with your dog is time well spent; sharing activities foster bonding. A dog that feels bonded to its owner will have less anxiety and exhibit better behavior.
Jogging together serves as motivation: If you want to stick to your workout routine but struggle to pull yourself out of your nice warm bed each morning, jogging with your dog is a fast fix. A persistent wet nose in your face will get you up and at ‘em faster than any alarm clock.
Jogging together discourages bad habits: Dogs are born to run. They want to jump, romp, and roughhouse. Some dogs need more stimulation than others – a lab, for instance, needs much more exercise than a toy poodle. But regardless of breed, all dogs benefit from the activity. Taking a dog jogging offers stimulation and gives them an outlet for their excess energy. If a dog is not provided this outlet, they tend to adopt bad habits. They might chew things around the home, dig holes in your prized flower garden, or engage in a not-so-friendly game of tag with your pet cat.
Jogging together perpetuates positive choices: Isaac Newton’s first law of motion discusses the idea of inertia, stating that objects at rest stay at rest and objects in motion stay in motion. While he wasn’t theorizing about exercise, the idea still holds true. People who adopt healthy habits are more likely to adopt more healthy habits. In short, exercise makes us feel good and that makes us want to go after other things that make us feel good. It might not have the exact same effect on your dog since dogs lack the logic (or desire!) to say, “I went for a run this morning. Now I’m going to have a healthy breakfast.” But exercise still releases feel-good hormones in canines. Happy pet. Happy owner.
JJ Keeler lives in Colorado with a house full of pets. She owns three dogs, two cats, and a hamster she bought as a bribe to get her daughter to ride the school bus. She has a BA in English Literature from the University of Colorado and has worked as a professional writer for fifteen years. Her clothes are perpetually covered in pet hair.
