Purpose: The purpose of this study is to: (1) identify characteristics associated with dog owners who walk their dog, (2) describe the frequency and duration of walking the dog, and (3) determine whether dog owners who walk their dog participate in more physical activity than dog owners who do not walk their dog and non-dog owners.
Design: A cross-sectional study design was used.
Setting: The study setting was nationwide.
Subjects: Adults (n = 4010) participating in the 2005 ConsumerStyles mail-panel survey were the study subjects.
Measures: Measures used were demographic, physical activity, dog ownership, and dog walking questions from the 2005 ConsumerStyles mail-panel survey.
Analysis: Chi-square tests and analyses of variance were conducted to examine participant characteristics associated with dog walking and to describe the frequency and duration of dog walking. Analysis of covariance was used to determine whether dog owners who walk their dog participate in more physical activity than dog owners who do not walk their dog and non-dog owners.
Results: Among dog owners, 42% reported some dog walking in a typical week. Dog owners walked their dog an average 4.3 ± 0.1 times and 128.8 ± 5.6 minutes per week. There were no significant differences in weekly minutes of moderate or vigorous physical activity across the dog-ownership and dog walking groups.
Conclusion: Most dog owners did not walk their dog. Dog owners were not more active than non-dog owners, except when considering the activity obtained via dog walking.
Keywords: health behavior; pets; physical activity; prevention research; walking.
© The Author(s) 2016.